


The Hope's Peak Adventure

by Coolyaya10



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, Dangan Ronpa 3: The End of 希望ヶ峰学園 | The End of Kibougamine Gakuen | End of Hope's Peak High School, New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Non-Despair (Dangan Ronpa), Angst, Blushing, Bullying, Crying, Cussing, F/M, Fat Shaming, Flirting, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Jealousy, More Characters/Tags Coming Soon, Picnics, Self-Esteem Issues, Self-Hatred, Training
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-25
Updated: 2021-03-16
Packaged: 2021-03-18 05:49:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 43,304
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28987368
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Coolyaya10/pseuds/Coolyaya10
Summary: Kaede Akamatsu is heading over the Hope’s Peak Academy to start her new adventure as the Ultimate Pianist! She is determined to make friends with everyone, but a problem arises when everyone else doesn't seem to share that opinion and starts to bully her instead. With only one person by her side, how will she get through her years at Hope’s Peak in one piece?A Saimatsu story with a couple of other ships thrown in here and there. Updates usually happen every Sunday!
Relationships: Akamatsu Kaede & Harukawa Maki & Momota Kaito & Saihara Shuichi, Akamatsu Kaede/Saihara Shuichi, Harukawa Maki/Momota Kaito, Momota Kaito & Saihara Shuichi
Comments: 31
Kudos: 84





	1. New Beginnings

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone! This is my first ever fanfic and I wanted to make it as amazing as possible! Hopefully, I will upload once every week or so, but this is not a guarantee. If there is anything I can improve on, leave it in the comments. I take constructive criticism! I hope you enjoy!

"Today is the day!" Kaede thought. She looked down into her hands and saw the fresh envelope she was keeping clean and spot-free. It was her acceptance letter to Hope's Peak Academy. Today was a very special day, as it was the first time she will enter Hope's Peak Academy. Yes, it was the day before orientation.

Kaede didn't know anyone in her class. All she knew was that orientation started at 8 am the next day and she needed to get there before then. She needed to catch her flight to the airport. Since she was so stressed about it, Kaede woke up earlier than she intended to do so. Indeed, it was 6 am, but she knew it was too late to go back to sleep. She sighed and got out of bed, hoping to start her amazing new life.

She barely believed it when she got accepted as the Ultimate Pianist. She was so honored and stoked. She couldn't wait! She was going to meet all her other classmates and make friends with them. Well, that was the goal. Kaede was always outgoing and confident. When she wanted something, it would take the will of every human to stop her from reaching her desires. As long as someone was there to support her, she could take an inch and go a mile. This experience, however, will be different for her. All her life, she has been living with her parents. Hope's Peak, however, requires its students to sleep in their own custom dorm rooms. For once, Kaede was excited about this new opportunity.

Realizing she was daydreaming for too long, she got up from her bed and started to get ready. Kaede was very organized and already had her outfit planned out for her. What? Can you blame her? She needed to make sure she would make the absolute best first impression. Kaede chose something very simple. A purple skirt with music notes all around, a white tee, and above that, a pink vest. Nothing too fancy, she thought. Right as she was going to exit the room, she noticed she forgot one crucial accessory: her backpack. She always kept very important things in there such as sheet music, her phone, and even lunch. Okay okay, it wasn't that important but it was a part of her outfit. She needed it. After making sure she looked spotless, she exited her room and went down to her living room.

"GOOD MORNING!!!"

Whoever yelled that did so at such a volume, it almost broke Kaede's ears. It was way too early for this. She knew who it was before she looked over. It was her twin sister, Koharu. Before Kaede could even spin her head to look at her sister, Koharu already had her in a bear hug. Kaede could feel herself falling, but caught herself on the wall to prevent that.

"Woah, careful now…" It was a plain request, but that request was met with more screaming "Are you excited? Are you happy? Are you…"

"Geez, Koharu, I get it, but it's too early for all of this. I am excited but no need to yell." After all, Kaede just got out of bed. Her hypersensitive ears could not handle this volume so early in the morning.

"Oh, I'm sorry" she states, giving Kaede a smirk which said otherwise. "Don't worry, I made you breakfast, so won't have to worry about it!"

"Wait really?" Now, this was a surprise. Sure, Koharu is an amazing sister, but waking up before 6 am to make breakfast? For a split second, Kaede thought she was still dreaming.

"Yup, let's go!" She grabbed Kaede's hand and pulled her into the kitchen. They both had a bad habit of just grabbing people's hands to move someone somewhere. Guess that is just the Akamatsu special.

They were both practically running into the kitchen at this point. Kaede and Koharu's bedrooms are located on the second floor, so they had to sprint down the stairs in order to get to the kitchen. Once Kaede got to the bottom of the stairs, she realized how much she is going to miss this place. She will miss being with her family, her room, but most importantly, her piano. She had a whole room dedicated to her piano with sheet music and other necessities thrown around. Well, that is usually the case. Most of what Kaede needed was already transferred to Hope’s Peak. Everything else she couldn’t take. For example, her piano had to be left behind. Hope’s Peak bought Kaede a custom piano after accepting the invitation, so she had no need to take it with her. Again, Kaede imagined how lucky she was to go to such a prestigious school. This was going to be the time of her life. 

Once they reached the kitchen, it was just as she expected. Eggs, pancakes, sausages, and bacon. Don’t get Kaede wrong, this was mouthwatering, but every day was too often. This time, however, she accepted it gracefully. When is the next time she will be able to eat like this? For all she knew, Kaede would be entering the ramen lifestyle. Shortly after Kaede sat down, the two sisters started chatting to each other. Talking about how their day will go, how their lives will change, and how much they are going to miss each other. Unfortunately, they had to miss each other. Kaede got accepted, but Koharu was not even considered. Koharu did not have something she was exceptionally good at, but even so, was extremely happy that at least someone close to her got the Hope’s Peak experience. Usually, Kaede and Koharu ate breakfast by themselves, with their parents sleeping in until around 8. However, today was special, as both their parents got up and ate with them. Too much small talk ensued, which stressed Kaede out. Phrases like “you're gonna kill it”, “try your best”, and “I believe in you!” came oozing out of her parent's mouths. Even without this encouragement, Kaede was determined. Determined to make this the best four years of her life.

With all four of them stuffed into a tiny car, they made their way to the airport. Of course it would be too convenient for the academy to be next to her. She sighed, waving goodbye to her old home and made her way to the airport. The ride there was mostly uneventful, with her parents and sister telling Kaede how much she was going to be missed. Thankfully, the flight was at 11 am, so Kaede had around 2 hours to spend with her family. The whole time, they were praising her skills, how proud of her they are, and every other complaint they could muster. Honestly, it hurt her heart. Having the most important people for her life vanish almost in an instant. Even if Kaede would be flying to a faraway place, she promised she would call them at least once a week. This was acceptable for the Akamatsu household.

“Gate 64 is now open. If you have a ticket for gate 64, please make your way there immediately. Thank you!”

To any other passenger, that message was uneventful. For Kaede, however, it signaled the start of her new life as the Ultimate Pianist. It signaled the day she would change forever. With a couple of hugs and tears all around, Kaede showed the flight attendant her ticket before entering the plane. This was not Kaede’s first time riding a plane. On the contrary, flying in an airplane was her routine at this point. Kaede has been requested to perform in all sorts of concert halls all over the world. Some of them were private, others were public, some were for funerals and others were for weddings. If piano music was there, so was she. Even though this had to be her millionth time flying, she couldn’t help but be stressed. Questions about Hope’s Peak swirled in her head faster than the speed of sound. How big is Hope’s Peak? What is the staff like? How about the food? Are the students nice? Will they accept me? Questions like these intertwined in her head the entire flight, which was fortunately only around 2 hours. Kaede and Hope’s Peak were both located in Japan, so she had that going for her at least.

When the flight landed, Kaede had no idea what to do. The entire time, she was just thinking to herself, so she completely forgot what she was doing. In fact, she was still daydreaming, which caused her to make a grave mistake. She bumped into someone. Fortunately for them, it was just a little bump, that was it, but it still made Kaede want to apologize profusely. However, right as the words were on the tip of her tongue, the other person decided to speak out.

“U-um… a-ah… I-I am so sorry! Are y-you okay? Did I h-hurt you? Did you fall? Do y-you need me to get y-you something? I s-should have looked where I was g-going. I am s-sorry!”

 _What is with this guy? He didn’t need to apologize at all. He was stationary, after all._

Deciding to finally look up at him, she noticed his appearance. He was dressed in all black. Black shoes, jacket, pants. He even had a black hat that covered up his dark blue hair and amber eyes. The buttons on his shirt were white with a couple of coat pockets on his side. She noticed this mystery man was also carrying a suitcase. Why? She had no clue, but she really didn’t know if she should pry for this information.

“What? No, no! It’s okay! It was all my fault after all. You weren’t even moving. Relax a little.” Even this did not make the poor boy relax.

“A-ah. Are you sure? M-maybe I was standing in the wrong place?”

“No no, it was all my fault. Besides, no harm no foul, right?”

She then noticed the boy let go of the breath he was holding. His shoulders draped downwards and he lifted his hat so she could at least see his mouth.

“Yes, of course. T-thank you for that confirmation.” Right then, she noticed a small simile creep onto his face. She didn’t know why, but her heart skipped a beat because of it. It made her want to return the smile ten-fold as she was ecstatic that she calmed this poor soul down.

“No problem! Anytime!” From there, the conversation went cold. No one knew what to say. As they were idling together, an idea came to her mind.

“Say, what is your name?”

This visibility shook the black-clothed boy. While he was not expecting this type of question, Kaede did not expect his reaction. Instead of stating his name, he looked at her like he was trying to solve the world’s hardest puzzle. After a couple of seconds after that small staredown, he began once again.

“Oh… my n-name is…”

“Kaede Akamatsu! Anyone here with the name Kaede Akamatsu!” 

“AH!” Kaede reacted so violently that even the blue-haired male jumped.

“Oh, that is for me! Sorry I have to go!” Without even giving it a second thought, Kaede ran to the sound of her name. Even though the lobby was full of noise, her golden ears allowed her to hear even the smallest of sounds. As she went towards the sound of the voice calling her name out, she turned around to see the boy still staring at her. With a small wave, she looked forward and marched into the crowd. In retrospect, it was mean to completely disregard him like that, but they were never going to meet each other again, so she won’t lose sleep over it.

After around 5 minutes, Kaede felt like she was playing to find the needle in the haystack with the individual who called out for her. Fortunately, this was not too difficult as she found another man calling her name out shortly after this thought. 

“Kaede Akamatsu?”

“Yup! That's me!”

“Can I see your ID card?”

That's right. Every student has an ID card in order to ensure they are real ultimates. Some people are so desperate to get into Hope’s Peak that they try to sneak in or cosplay as students just to get a peek inside. Kaede fished out her wallet and pulled out the ID card. On it was some very basic details about herself. Name, birthday, phone number, address, ultimate title, and a certain number assigned to every ultimate. At the bottom, there was also a barcode that was just used to identify her quickly and unlock certain areas in the school. Hope’s Peak had no keys in order to ensure that lock pickers won’t be able to access other students' dorms. Weird, but she didn’t mind. Less work for her!

The person smiled and took the ID card. After scanning it and reading something off of it, he urged her to come with him. A little freaked out, she complied and headed outside to where her ride was waiting for her. Wait, her ride? What ride?

“Um… what is this? Where are we going?”

“Oh, we are heading to Hope’s Peak,” The man informed her. “Getting there in secret is extremely important, as we do not want any harm to current and future ultimates.”

Kaede understood the idea but was still worried. One look inside the car made all those worries disappear. There was the Hope’s Peak academy logo plastered on everywhere, and she means EVERYWHERE. This either meant that she was going to Hope’s Peak or was about to get kidnapped, but she didn’t have a choice on whether or not to get into the car. Before she knew it, she already had a seatbelt on and the driver was moving away from the airport. The kidnapping theory started to get more traction.

“We will be at Hope’s Peak in around 30 minutes. Until then, please relax yourself. Once you arrive, you will go through a tough security check and will meet up with some staff to get your dorm assigned. Orientation is tomorrow at 8 am. After that, you can explore the rest of the academy and the surrounding establishments. The first day of class starts on Monday, at 9 am. Any questions?”

“Nope! Seems simple enough to me!” She smiled again. There was nothing to smile about, but the excitement of going to the world's most prestigious school just forced it on her. She was so excited that she couldn’t contain herself. Luckily, the driver focused on the road and kept driving towards their destination: her new school, or at least she hoped so. She knew this would change her life forever. She knew this would change her so much. But for the better or worse, Kaede did not know… yet.

Kaede stared at the school in awe. It was so gigantic that Kaede guessed it was at least 20 floors tall. She never saw the school in person before, just in pamphlets and online pictures. Well, it had to be the best school for a reason, right? After realizing she was staring at the building for roughly 15 minutes, she decided to snap out of it and head to the entrance. As she was walking to the main doors, she suddenly stopped. She noticed that no one was around. Did she mess this up again? Was she late? Early? Was she in the wrong place? Those questions formulated in her head, but she quickly snapped out of it. The driver dropped her here, so it must be correct. Everyone is probably inside!

Panicking, she quickly went and opened the doors only to see a young lady behind a table. Kaede quickly approached the lady.

“Hello miss. How can I help you today?”

“Um… Is this Hope’s Peak Academy? I am new here so I need help getting started.”

“Yes, that is correct dearie. Can I please see your ID?”

_Geez, they use that way too often around here. And did she just call me “dearie”?_

Completely caught off guard, Kaede could only mutter “Yea, here it is…”

After a couple of awkward minutes later, the young assistant gave Kaede her card back.

“Alright, well, it seems you are all checked out! Well, welcome to Hope’s Peak Ms. Akamatsu! Here, you will be able to refine your talent as the Ultimate Pianist while being around other ultimates!”

_Wait, how did she know my talent? Does the skirt really give it away?_

“Currently, we are finishing renovations for your class. Specifically, for your class, there will be 15 other ultimates joining you in your wondrous adventure. As you probably already know, orientation is tomorrow at 8 am sharp, so don’t miss it! Now that you know all that, let me assign you your dorm. First of all, each class has its own building for the student's dorms and labs. For reference, the building you are standing in is the main building where students can come and relax or get help at.”

Kaede looked around at this point. This is where she was a cafe, gym, pool, and even a library!

_Yup, this is definitely something I can get used to…_

“Additionally, the dorms are separated by gender and each student gets a single dorm. Any decoration is fine as long as no damage is dealt to the physical room. Now, here is your room key.”

She gets handed some type of keycard.

_Of course it isn't a normal key._

“Your dorm should be the one with your face on it. Additionally, with that keycard, you can access your lab! Each ultimate student also gets a special room where they can refine their ultimate talents. These labs are rebuilt each time a new ultimate is accepted! All the labs for your class will be located on the floor above your dorm. Everything that you personally shipped has already been placed in your dorm room for you to unpack. Now, I know that is a lot to take in, so do you have any questions?”

Even though Kaede was still reeling, she thought she had a good grasp on the situation.

“Nope! I got it all!”

“Great! With that being said, let me lead you to the dorms. From there, it is just an elevator ride up to the labs!”

The assistant slowly got up from her chair and started to lead Kaede in another direction. After a couple of minutes, Kaede ended up in front of another building. From what she was told, Kaede assumed this was where her lab and dorm were located. A step inside confirmed this as she immediately saw the elevator that led up to the second floor. To the right and left of her, she saw 16 doors with random pictures plastered over them; 8 in each direction.

_Wait… Is that..._

“Welp, I have to go back to my station. I will let you explore the academy now. Have a great day!”

She left, seemingly in a hurry, to go back to the desk. Kaede did not understand why, but oh well. Kaede remembered that dorms were separated by gender. She went to the female's side and saw her dorm was at the end.

_Geez, I have to walk all the way here to get to the door!? Wow, I wish I had the one next to the entrance!_

Even though she was frustrated, she had to see what her dorm looked like. After scanning the keycard against the scanner, the door popped open. Kaede was shocked… is what she thought this moment would be like. All the room had was a bed against the top right of the room, a bathroom right next to the entrance, a closet, and a small kitchen. That's it. As promised, all her stuff was in her dorm… boxes. Right then, she realized she may have brought too much stuff. Oh well, she had the rest of the day to sort everything out. But before that… 

Kaede dashed to the elevator. She needed to know what her lab looked like. She wanted, no needed, to see the grand piano the school got for her along with everything else. She needed to see what she will be working with… okay and maybe play a few songs but that is besides the point. As the elevator opened, Kaede stepped inside and smashed the button to go to the second floor. Right as the elevator was closing, Kaede saw something, no, someone, she didn't expect to see.

The same lady from before opened the main door across from the elevator to bring into view a boy. This person wore all black and had a cap on. Before Kaede even had time to react, the elevator door slammed shut and it started ascending upwards.

_WAIT! Was that the same boy from the airport!? No, that surely must be a mistake. I didn’t get a good enough look to even see what he looks like. Besides, many people dress up in all black, so it could be someone else, right?_

Kaede thought about this a little more as her ride ascended. While it is true that many people wear black, not many people wear black caps indoors as well… All of her thoughts scrambled as Kaede suddenly heard a loud noise. Luckily for her, it wasn’t the elevator breaking, but her reaching her location: the site of all the ultimate labs. For a second, Kaede felt like a baby running in a candy store, trying to find the perfect treat. Eventually, Kaede found her treat in a matter of split seconds: her lab. She didn’t care to look at what the other labs were like yet. She just wanted to see her own now.

And that she did. Like her dorm room, her lab was symbolized by a framed picture of herself above the door. Kaede was disappointed with the limited amount of decorations on the door, but at least now it is a project for next time. Before doing a double-take around her, she slammed the door open to find her new lab.

_Oh. My. God. This. Is. AMAZING!_

Kaede couldn’t contain her excitement. There was everything she hoped and more. In the center of the room laid a beautiful grand piano which was slightly elevated from the floor. There were a couple of chairs lying next to a window, most likely for an audience. Behind the piano, there was a shelf full of song covers and sheet music. There was an audio player in the corner of the room and a huge whiteboard for when she wants to make her own pieces. In the other corner of the room, there was a recording device for when she wanted to show other people her projects. After taking everything in, Kaede sprinted to the piano so quickly she nearly tripped over herself.

_Wow! This piano is brilliant! It looks brand new as well! Oh, I want to play the piano so badly, even though it has only been a day since I last played…_

Even though Kaede was mentally concerned, she couldn’t physically control herself from sitting down and playing a few tunes. She got engrossed in what felt like forever, playing different melodies and all of her favorites, just to practice. Eventually, Kaede looked at the clock, which now read 6 pm.

_Okay, 6 pm. Wait, what? It has been that long? Have I really forgotten to eat lunch? Geez, I really am addicted to my piano, aren't I?_

Kaede giggled to herself before shrugging. She didn’t care, she was here because of that addiction, right? Even though Kaede could have stayed up until midnight playing her favorite classics, she had to attend orientation tomorrow, so she needed to go clean her room and eat something. On the way out of her lab, she noticed something strange. The same black-clothed boy was entering his own lab down the hall.

_Okay, what is with this guy? Is he following me? Maybe he wants to get to know me?_

She didn’t have to think about it twice before she was right in front of the door. As she was about to knock, when she remembered something important.

_Wait, I shouldn’t do this. I don’t want to make a horrible first impression. I promised myself I wouldn’t do that again after last time…_

With that settled, she dropped the act and headed back down to her own dorm. Admittingly, it was a mess from all the boxes, but a quick clean up got everything sorted. She moved all of her custom DVDs and sheet music to her lab while decorating the walls of her own dorm. All around her room, she placed small pink lights where the wall and the ceiling meet. Then, she decorated the walls with small piano symbols, like clefs. Eventually, the walls would have to be repainted, but right now, her stomach was talking instead of her head. Her stomach wanted food, so the cafe was the natural place to go.

Once Kaede finally got to the food haven, she went and got in line. For the first time, she saw other ultimates eating as well. They were all eating in groups and had funky looking uniforms, but she didn’t judge. Her uniform was nothing short of normal either. Fortunately for her, the food here was of a higher caliber than the foods in normal high schools. Once she got her grub, she needed a place to sit once. While she was looking for a table, she stopped once she spotted a certain black-clothed boy.

_Is this boy following me? Why is he everywhere I am going?_

He was sitting by himself, reading a novel and drinking something. From the appearance alone, along with the possible experience in the airport, he was nice enough to be the first person she talked to. Well, she had to sit somewhere? Why not make a friend while doing it? Plus, sitting next to someone in a cafe is much less creepy than randomly knocking on their door. Deciding to risk it all, she sat right next to the boy.

“Hi!” Kaede exclaimed, a little too loud for her liking.

“A-AH. Ah. Oh. It’s you a-again...”

“Oh, so you remember me? From the airport? That’s great! First of all, I am extremely sorry for ignoring you at the airport! I just thought we would never see each other again, and I was so excited about coming here and... and...” Kaede had so much to say, but she didn't want to seem self-centered in her apology. Instead, she just looked at the boy, which symbolized that she was done speaking.

"Oh... hah... hah... t-that's alright, really..."

The silence became deadly. She had no idea what to do. It was clear that the other boy was too shy to continue the conversation, but he did not ignore her. It was clear she had his full attention, even though he was hiding his face behind his novel and cap. She needed to make this conversation last, but how? Just then she realized she forgot to ask him something…

“Oh yea! I never got your name. Well, since you're here, you must have an ultimate talent too, right?”

“Yes, that is correct. M-my name is Shuichi S-Saihara. They call me the 'Ultimate Detective,' but I don’t think I d-deserve the title.”

Kaede couldn’t help but notice that he placed air quotes around his title. She frowned. This warranted further questioning.

“Hey! What do you mean 'I don’t deserve the title'? You are here so you definitely deserve it. Come on, be more confident in yourself Shuichi!”

She pumped her fists in the air, hoping to pass some of that confidence to the capped boy. Unfortunately, it seemed to fail, as all it did was make the young detective look away.

“Ah, I d-don’t want to t-talk about it…” Shuichi literally whispered this part, but because of her amazing ears as a pianist, she quickly picked up on it.

“OH! I am sorry! I didn't mean to intrude. Well, let me introduce myself in the meantime. My name is Kaede Akamatsu. I am the Ultimate Pianist. Nice to meet you!”

“Ultimate Pianist? T-that sounds interesting.”

“It really is! For my entire life, I have played in numerous concerts! After winning so many awards at such a young age, Hope’s Peak scouted me and found me as a perfect fit for this school!”

“That is how you got your title? Wow, that sounds way better than me…”

“Hey! I am sure you did amazing things as well! If you're not comfortable sharing, that's okay! Besides, everyone will eventually leave their comfort zone, right?”

Glaring at him, Kaede stuck her hand out for the blue-haired detective to shake. He looked at her hand like it was laced with some sort of poison. He quickly returned her glare, to which Kaede responded with a gentle smile. Shuichi stared back at her hand, and Kaede felt it getting awkward, fast. Right as she was about to pull her hand away, Shuichi gently took her hand and quickly shook it, before retracting his hand and looking away.

“Yea, I g-guess you're right…”

“Yup! When you are ready to open up, I will listen alright? Unfortunately for both of us, it is getting extremely late and orientation is tomorrow, so we have to get going. It was very nice meeting you Shuichi!”

“Yea... I-it was nice m-meeting you too, K-Kaede.”

She gave him a small smile before waving and going back to her room. She was so ecstatic! That boy seemed nice enough, and he seemed to not judge her! Judge her like everyone else… She looked down at herself. She sighed as she went into her dorm.

After tumbling with her key card, she finally opened the door to her dorm. Feeling extremely tired, Kaede quickly went and dressed in her pajamas. Seriously, who sleeps with their uniform on? After thoughtlessly redressing herself, she quickly plopped down onto her bed to think over everything.

_Well, I think that Shuichi boy is nice. I think we can make great friends! I hope everyone is as accepting as he is though…_

She sighed. She was way too stressed for the orientation tomorrow. Way too stressed to meet everyone: the teachers, the staff, the students. Oh, especially the students. She wanted to make friends with everyone, or at least one person. That would be an improvement from last year…

She realized that sighing to herself won’t stop these thoughts, so she slapped herself lightly.

_I need to go to sleep! Not into my thoughts! Sleep! Hmm… I know what to do!_

To solve this problem, Kaede turned to what she loved the most: the piano. She was so stressed out, she needed to think of the perfect song to calm her down. Slowly, she started humming the song to herself. The stress was fading away as her body relaxed to the beat. As she fell asleep to “Clair de Lune”.


	2. A New Friend... and Enemies

*Beep!* *Beep!* Beep!*

“I’m up!”

Kaede jumped at the sound of her alarm clock, nearly throwing it at all the wall out of fright. Instead, she settles down until she checks the time.

“7 am? I need to get ready!”

Kaede leapt out of bed and sprinted to her closet to get a fresh change of clothes before sprinting to her bathroom. After brushing her teeth, she quickly put on her new outfit. Well, the outfit looked the exact same as the one from yesterday; this one was just clean. After that, Kaede had to make herself presentable. She combed her hair, put her musical hair clippings on, and left the bathroom. Then, she jumped on her bed, quickly putting on her purple stockings and brown shoes. She took one more quick glance at the mirror, put her backpack on, and she was out the door no later than 7:20. 

She was about to go to her lab to pass the time until she heard a horrifying sound.

*Rumble* *Rumble*

After making sure that an earthquake was not occurring, she quickly realized it was her stomach telling her that it needed food. Not wanting to fight with her stomach this early in the morning, she decided to head over to the cafe before the orientation. 

On her way to the cafe, she caught a glimpse at a few of the other students. Specifically, she saw a male and a female talking to each other. The male had purple hair that was gelled in an oddly specific manner, a purple blazer with a white shirt underneath, purple pants, and… slippers? Since when do they allow that in Hope’s Peak? The girl, on the other hand, seemed oddly normal. She had two twin-tails with a red scrunchy holding each twin-tail in place. She had a red uniform with a bowtie on her. Additionally, she wore a black skirt with red stocks that were higher than her knees. After taking in their appearance, Kaede noted that they were in a pretty serious conversation, so that fact, along with the fact that her stomach was still controlling her body, she decided to talk to them later and she made her way to the cafe.

Once at the cafe, Kaede saw that there were a few more students than before, but decided to ignore them for now and get breakfast. She glanced at the menu before just taking an omelet and orange juice. As she looked around for a place to enjoy her grub, she saw him again: Shuichi.

_ Hmm… I talked with him yesterday… but I don’t think I got to properly know him. I think I’m going to go talk to him. _

With determination in her eyes, she decided to plop down her food at the table he was sitting at.

“Can I sit here?” Kaede asked the detective.

“Oh… U-um sure, Kaede.”

While eating, she decided to look at her surroundings. That is when she noticed that they were located at the corner of the cafe, where most of the students seemed to avoid.

“Hey, Shuichi. Why do you sit here? Shouldn’t you sit in the middle of the cafe in order to talk to more classmates?”   


“Um… I am not t-that good with people…” After his stutter, he pulled his cap down to cover his eyes.

“Well, you are doing a good job talking to me!”

“...Thanks… t-that’s a first...”

Kaede could have sworn that he pulled his hat down even lower as he covered up an embarrassed simile. Even so, she knew she couldn’t go down this path of conversation, as it might scare him. Might as well question the boy on something else.

“So, Shuichi, how did you get into being a detective? I am always fascinated with people’s stories!”

He let go of the hat to quickly look up and then away from her. Just then, she remembered what he told her yesterday: he was unformable talking about his past.

“OOPS! I’m sorry! I forgot about the talk we had yesterday!”

“O-oh, it’s alright. I can tell you that I u-used to solve infidelity cases as well as missing people’s cases…”

“That sounds so exciting! Do you place cameras in people’s rooms and catch them admitting to cheating? Or, do you have a showdown with the criminals who abduct the missing person?”

“I am sorry to disappoint, but it is not nearly as e-exciting as that. Most of the time, the cheating spouse admits once we have obtained enough evidence, and in a m-missing people’s case, they go missing on their own f-free will, not because they are kidnapped.”

“Oh… that’s still cool that you get to do that and help everyone out!”

“Yea… it feels pretty g-great when someone thanks me…” 

Again, the conversation was going cold, as they both chowed down on their breakfast. She needed to break the ice, at least with one person!

“So…”

“Y-yes?”

“What are… your hobbies!”

_ God, am I trying too hard? Oh god, I am! He is going to think I’m crazy! _

“Oh… well other than detective work, I also like to read novels. I don’t really have a preference, but funnily enough, I can’t stand mystery novels because I solve the mystery too quickly.”

“Hmm… interesting…”

_ Well, that’s certainly something. At the very least, I am getting closer to someone. That is a plus, right? _

Kaede checked the time only to see it was 7:50.

“OH! Sorry Shuichi! I have to go to orientation. It’s my first year here!”

“O-oh, I almost forgot about t-that! I have to go there too.”

“Does that mean you are also a first-year Shuichi?”

“Y-yea, that’s correct.”

_ A person who I am getting closer to AND is in the same class as me? This couldn’t be going any better! _

“There are only 10 more minutes until orientation and I don’t even know where the auditorium is! Do you know where it is Shuichi?”

“Er… yea… I think I memorized the l-location from the map I saw yesterday.”

“Good work Shuichi! I didn’t expect anything less from the Ultimate Detective! Anyways, lead the way!”

Shuichi blushed at this comment, but Kaede didn’t see it due to his hat and the fact that the boy was facing away from her.

“Um… okay…”

Quickly, both of them rushed to the auditorium. Quickly, she realized how lucky she had gotten. Not only was she lucky enough to notice the time just before the assembly started, but she also found someone who knew where the auditorium was. Without Shuichi, she would have been tardy for sure.

They entered the building right in the nick of time. Unfortunately for both of them, they were the last ones there. At the back, Kaede saw the man who wore all purple alongside the girl with twin-tails. 

_ Those two look nice. Maybe I can talk to them after orientation? _

She looked around the room to see more unfamiliar faces, but they were already talking to someone else. She saw a small purple-haired boy who wore mostly white with a black-checkered scarf. Kaede also spotted a boy with green hair, a blue shirt, and brown jeans talking to another masked male. Additionally, she saw a tall, strong, male, without any sort of shoes and some sort of cage around him, talking to a much more elegant looking lady with her sandy blonde hair blocking one of her eyes. Before analyzing any more of the students, she realized that the orientation was about to start and she needed to take a seat.

“Hey Shuichi, come sit next to me!”

He looked confused for a second before looking down at the floor.

“S-sure Kaede, I’m f-following you.”

Kaede spots two empty seats near the front of the stage. Motioning Shuichi to follow her, she takes her seat, and a few seconds later, Shuichi also sits down.

_ I wonder why Shuichi stutters so often? Does he have some sort of problem? Well, if he does, then I can guarantee him that he won’t be the only one... _

Before Kaede could go any deeper into those thoughts, she heard the entire room go quiet all of a sudden. She jerked her head upwards to see a tall figure standing on the podium.

“Welcome Ultimates of the 79th class! My name is Jin Kirigiri, headmaster of Hope’s Peak Academy. If anyone has any sort of problem, please see me in my office. It is open at all times for any Ultimate to come in. Now, to start off orientation. I want everyone to introduce themselves. This will make it so you guys will be able to communicate better with each other.”

“Oh, oh, I will start!” Kaede almost yelled.

“Looks like we have an eager one this year. Well… go ahead”

“My name is Kaede Akamatsu! I am the Ultimate Pianist, nice to meet you! I hope we can all be friends in the future!”

“LAME!”

_ Wait, what? Lame? Am I already going back to what happened before? But who said that? _

She glanced around the auditorium to find the purple-haired boy laughing. She could only assume that he was the culprit.

“Whoever said that, you have one warning. Next time, it’s a detention.”

That shut up him real quick.

“Anyways, let’s just go in a circle. Now you, sir, what is your name”

“O-oh!” Shuichi immediately stood up, sweat filling up his face. Was he this nervous already?

“I'm Shuichi S-Saihara. They c-call me the Ultimate Detective b-but...”

_ I know where this was going. _

Before he could finish his sentence, Kaede nudged him with her elbow. He turned to her and they locked eyes for a second. During this time, Kaede gave him a stern face. Luckily, he got the message and he quickly sat down. She immediately gave the boy a small simile as a sign of approval and looked back at the headmaster. Soon after that, all the other students went.

_ Ultimate Robot…. Ultimate Inventor… Ultimate Maid… Wow! These people are so cool! _

Soon enough, it was the white-scarfed boy’s turn. 

“Nee-heeheehee! Well, only since I have too... I’m Kokichi Oma, the Ultimate Supreme Leader! Bow down before your new ruler!”

Immediately, one girl with blonde hair started to do exactly that.

“Miu, get off the floor…” Kirumi, the Ultimate Maid, stated.

“Nnnngh! B-but, b-but...”

“Ahem!” The headmaster loudly claimed. “Anyways, time for the real reason why I called everyone. As you all know, classes begin tomorrow, so I will go over some ground rules.”

The entire student body groaned. At least that is something they can all agree on.

“I promise this only takes 2 minutes. Now, the rules of the school. 

Rule 1: Don’t blow anything up. Yes, I am looking at you Miu. 

Rule 2: Don’t do anything illegal. This one is for Kokichi”

“Nyeh, that’s it? At least it’s not a pain to remember.” The red-headed mage, called Himiko, responded.

“Yes. Attending classes is required if the teacher does not excuse you. Classes start at 8 am every day and end at 3 pm. All students must be at their dorms by 10 pm; there will be a nighttime announcement at 9:45 everyday starting today to make sure you don’t forget. Any questions?”

You could hear the sound of a pin drop in the auditorium. No one wanted to ask anything, mainly because everyone just wanted to dip.

“Alright. Everyone, if you have not gotten your dorm room yet, then do so today. Additionally, I would recommend going to the classroom in order to get acquainted with the surroundings and the teacher. Other than that, you are free to leave.”

“Thank FUCK! My golden brain was being fried of boredom just sitting here and listening to that old ass.”

“Miu! I would greatly appreciate it if you cut down on the obscenity!” Keebo stated.

“Oh, fuck up Keeboy. You can’t tell me what to do! And either way, I have WAY more things to show you with all this extra time we now have~” The inventor pulled the robot away, all the while Keebo was screaming for help.

Shuichi pulled his hat down. “I feel bad for him…”

“Yea, no kidding…” Kaede responded, half in shock and half in fear.

In the end, no one seemed to care too much about the whole ordeal. They all seemed to file out of the auditorium, headed to who knows where. In no time flat, the only people who remained there were Shuichi and Kaede, still awestruck at the scene that just unfolded.

“Um… so n-now what?” Shuichi stated.

“Hmmm… do you want to go and meet the teacher Shuichi? Making a strong connection with the teacher will definitely help us in the long run!”

“S-sure Kaede. That sounds… nice!”

“Alright let’s go!”

The pair then headed off to class 79; their classroom. Before entering, they both peaked in from the window. Surprisingly, they saw no one inside the class. Only the lone teacher was sitting at the desk, reading something. Instantly, the orange-haired teacher looked at the two students and gave them a wide smile before walking over to them and opening the door.

“Hello! My name is Chisa Yukizome, your new teacher. You can call me Ms. Yukizome! Nice to meet you Kaede and Shuichi.”

“Uh? How do you already know our names?” Kaede said, clearly confused.

“Oh, I was given your accepted applications so I can know more about all of my students before the first day! I need to make the lesson plans somehow.”

While this made sense, Kaede still found this odd. 

_ Wait, so a person I barely trust has all of my information? This is borderline stocking!  _

After further deliberation, Kaede realized what school she went to.

_ I mean, this is Hope’s Peak after all. The teachers do need to know everything about the students, considering there are only 16 of us here… I guess I will let this slide… _

While thinking to herself, she completely zoned out Shuichi and Ms. Yukizome, who were now having a conservation about his cap.

“You have a very nice hat there Shuichi! However, I think you would look much better without it! It hides half of your face after all!”

“Um… E-er… I d-don’t know…. I really l-like it...”

For all of Shuichi’s strengths, Kaede could tell that Shuichi was lying. It seemed like the hat had some sort of deeper meaning for Shuichi. She would have to talk to him about that later. In the meantime, it seemed like Ms. Yukizome also caught onto that lie, but decided to play it off as well.

“Well, that’s okay! You can take it off whenever you are ready! Either way, I am surprised you two even showed up. Everybody's egos are huge around here and they usually never do anything that isn’t required. I am glad to know that I at least have some great students like you two!”

Shuichi blushed at this comment and looked away while Kaede gave the teacher the biggest smile she could muster.

“Of course Ms. Yukizome! We are happy to be here!”

After that, Ms. Yukizome gave them a tour of the classroom. It was nothing special, just 16 desks in a classroom placed in a 4 by 4 grid with a whiteboard upfront.

“Well, I was planning on assigning seats, but since you guys are already here, I will let you pick your seats!”

“Oh-h, thank you Ms. Yukizome. I-if you don’t mind I will t-take the seat in the top right - OW”

Kaede elbowed Shuichi just hard enough to cut him off. While Shuichi stared at Kaede, Kaede had a different job to complete.

“Thank you so much! Shuichi and I will be taking the two seats in front!”

Kaede went ahead and claimed the frontmost third seat. Shuichi was about to go to the back row until he noticed Kaede glaring him down again. Sighing, Shuichi went and took the rightmost seat in the front row, which was located directly to Kaede’s left.

_ Well, I was hoping he would sit at the opposite side of me, but at least he is in the front row, so that’s an improvement! _

“Excellent choices you two! With that attitude, I know we can make this a very exciting year! For now, however, I have to have a meeting with the big bad principal before the first day tomorrow. I am sorry for cutting this short, but I have to leave. I will catch you both tomorrow!”

After waving, Ms. Yukizome left the classroom, making her way to the principal’s office. Once again, Kaede and Shuichi were left all alone, this time in a different setting.

“Well, do you have any plans for today Shuichi? It is only 10 in the morning and I’m bored out of my mind.”

“Um… well a-actually… I do… Kaito wanted to talk to me in his dorm for s-some reason at 10:30, so I have to head over there.”

“Uh, Kaito? The dude who is geared out in purple? When did you meet him?”

“Right as I entered Hope’s Peak. He helped me move a c-couple boxes of my things into my room, and yesterday, he told me to m-meet up with him before we started talking today.” 

“Wait, why couldn't you guess just meet up there and then?”

“Well... h-he said that he needed to finish m-moving his stuff and one of his friends' stuff too…”

“Oh, I see. Well, that’s amazing! You have fun with Kaito, alright?”

“Yea I will…”

There was a long, awkward pause until Shuichi decided to speak up again.

“Um… Kaede… w-what are you going to d-do?”

“Hmm, maybe I can meet more students in our class! I want to get to know and become friends with everyone in our class!”

Kaede then paused for a minute, clearly contemplating her next words.

“Hey Shuichi, do you consider me as your friend?” Kaede wondered out loud, genuinely interested, but also scared, for his response.

“Uh...Y-yes... I do Kaede.” Shuichi claimed as he pulled his hat down to avoid his blush.

“You have been v-very nice to me e-ever since we got here.”

Against her better judgment, she put on a huge smile on her face.

_ Did it get hot in here or is it just me? _

“Thank you Shuichi! I consider you to be my friend as well. OH! Let’s do the one thing all friends do: exchange numbers. Here take my phone.”

Kaede basically threw the phone over to the poor detective, who just barely caught it. After his sweatfest had calmed down, he put his number into Kaede’s phone. Kaede texted the number something so Shuichi knew what Kaede's number was.

“And there we go! I am really looking forward to spending time with you Shuichi! I can already tell that we are going to be amazing friends!”

“Y-yea… me t-too…”

“Well, I’m going to leave you to your guy talk! Have a great time! OH, and if something happens, you can text me about it, okay?”

“Yea… Thank you Kaede… Good l-luck talking to everyone else!”

After that exchange, Shuichi and Kaede decided to split up. Shuichi went to meet up with Kaito and Kaede went to find the rest of her classmates. When she said she wanted to be friends with everyone she was deadly serious.

_ Now, where did everyone else wander off to? They might be at the cafe, but I never saw any of them there before? Maybe I was just too focused talking to Shuichi to notice anyone. Oh well, let’s give it a shot!  _

With newfound determination, Kaede decided to go to the cafe with a skip in her step. The second she was at her destination, she was excited that she guessed correctly. Half of class was sitting at one of the big semi-circular tables talking to each other. The people who were there were Kokichi, Gonta, Rantaro,  [ Korekiyo ](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6184830/characters/nm0840720?ref_=ttfc_fc_cl_t9) , Himiko, Tenko, and Angie.

_ Come on Kaede! You can do this! Just remember all that practice from last week and you will be fine! _

She plastered a simile on her face before skipping over to the group of ultimates.

“Hey everyone!”

Everyone suddenly stopped talking. They all turned their heads to Kaede, most of them wearing a confused expression.

“Hello there Kayayday!” Kokichi, the purple-haired leader spoke.

“Hi! How is everyone!”

“Nee-heeheehee, just peachy. But anyways, why did you come here?”

“Isn’t it obvious? I want to become friends with everyone!”

Everyone’s faces deadpanned, except Gonta’s, who still looked confused. Kokichi looked at Kaede, looked at her stomach, then back at her face.

“And why should we let you be friends?”

“What?”

“You heard me, as the Ultimate Supreme Leader, I am only around the best! So once again, why should I consider you?”

“Umm… Well…"

“Err! Time’s up! Ohh, sorry Kayayday! You didn’t give me an answer!”

“Uh?”

“Looks like we don’t want to be friends with you, right guys?”

Kokichi looked on to the group of Ultimates for their confirmation. At this table, it looked more like a dictatorship rather than an actual friendship, but slowly, everyone gave their responses to Kaede.

“Nyeh… It’s too much of a pain to deal with another person.” Himiko retorted.

“Yeah, and even though you are not a degenerate male, I always agree with Himiko! 100%!” Tenko stated, to the embarrassment of Himiko.

Korekiyo gave his analytical input “Yes, the strain would be too high if an additional Ultimate would be allowed to participate.”

“Atua agrees. He states that it is not worth it!” Angie stated.

“Sorry Kaede, I don’t think it would work with you in the group.” Rantaro declared, way too boldly for most of the other member’s tastes.

“Gonta don’t know. Rejecting a friend is not gentlemen like.”

_ Finally, someone is by my side! _

But as quick as that thought entered her head, it was quickly shot down by Kokichi.

“But Gonta, isn’t it less gentlemanly if you go against your precious friends?”

Gonta thought about this for a couple of seconds before quickly making up his mind.

“Kokichi is right. Sorry Kaede, but it is not gentlemen like to disappoint friends, so Gonta agrees with friends!” Gonta affirmed, sounding like what he stated was a good thing.

“Sorrrrryyyy Kayayday, but everyone agrees! Now, if you will excuseeee us, we were talking about secret plans in order to take over the world!”

She doubted that, but still...

“Ohh… O-okay… If everyone t-thinks that, then I will leave. B-bye everyone…”

“Buh-bye! Don’t let the door hit you on the way out!” Kokichi yelled while everyone else laughed, much to Kaede’s embarrassment.

Kaede then decided to leave the cafe and go straight to her dorm room. After taking a dozen tries to open the door, it finally unlocked. Immediately, Kaede rushed in and locked her room before going to her bed and started doing something she hoped she wouldn’t do: cry.

_ I knew it! It never works! No matter how nice I am to people, how much I want to be friends with everyone, they always push me away! It’s not fair! _

At this point, Kaede was shivering in sadness and anger at herself for not doing more.

_ Dang it! Why is it always me! Why can’t I have anyone on my side? Even when I'm an Ultimate, no one likes me. Most people tolerate me only for my talent and then just leave! Dang it! I knew I should have gotten my weight checked this summer. I saw Kokichi checking me out… Dang it! I’m such an idiot for letting the piano control my life! God, I hate this. I hate this school. I hate this dorm. I hate... myself… _

For the next couple of hours, Kaede sat there crying her heart out, hoping someone would hear her sorrows. Unfortunately, that miracle was impossible, as the walls are soundproof and she locked her dorm, so no one could enter. She laid there, thinking of everything she did wrong in that conversation.

_ Maybe I shouldn’t have approached them? Maybe I was too forward with wanting to be everyone's friends? Maybe I needed to give them gifts? What gifts would they even like… Maybe… maybe… _

Her thinking was cut short by the sound of her phone buzzing. This noise caught Kaede off guard, not only because she rarely hears the sound of anyone messaging her, but also because she never expected any contact during this time.

_ Did someone hear me? Are they going to help me? _

Kaede was half right in the end. No one physically heard her, but someone was willing to help her. She unlocked her phone and saw one message from the only friend she had: Shuichi Saihara.

**Shuichi:** Hi Kaede, I finished meeting up with Kaito and Maki. How did your day go?

Kaede knew she needed to respond quickly, but there was no way she was about to tell Shuichi how her day actually went. That might scare him away too! No matter what, that could NOT happen. Not again...

**Kaede:** Good, good! I just went and talked to a few other Ultimates and got to break the ice with them.

**Shuichi:** That sounds nice. I was wondering, do you want to hang out with me in the library before we have to retire to our dorms?

Retire to our dorms? What does he mean? Kaede looked at the time and was shocked at what lay before her: the time was 7 pm! She had forgotten to eat or do anything else!

**Kaede:** Of course Shuichi! But, do you mind if I quickly make myself something before meeting you there?

**Shuichi:** Sure, do you want to meet at 8?

**Kaede:** That sounds perfect! See you there!

**Shuichi:** See you!

_ Well, it isn’t too bad… this is certainly an improvement from last year. At least I have one person who wants to be near me... _

Throwing those thoughts out of her head, Kaede realized that she needed to get ready. Her hair and clothes were wet with all of her tears and sweat. At that moment, Kaede decided to take a quick shower to wash away her worries as well her smell. After an extremely quick shower, Kaede changed back into another uniform and then went into her kitchen to bake something. She opened the refrigerator and…

_ Nothing… great… I need to go to the school store tomorrow to stock up on food. _

Luckily for her, Kaede found some cheese and bread that was apparently given to all the students who forgot to buy groceries for the first day.

“Grilled cheese sounds perfect right now…” Kaede said to no one in particular, as she placed her sandwich on the griller. It didn’t take too long for the sandwiches to be done, and immediately after they were finished, Kaede devoured them. Can you blame her? She cried so much in the past few hours she forgot about eating lunch and dinner. That sometimes happened while playing the piano, but she hoped that she got rid of that habit before school started. Guess not...

Kaede put the dishes in the sink before checking the time.

_ 7:50? Oh my god, I have to go! I can NOT lose the only friend I have at this school! _

Quickly, Kaede grabbed her backpack and phone and sprinted out of the room, locking it behind her. She quickly checked her phone in order to see if there were any new messages from Shuichi that she had missed. Her heart sunk once she realized she missed one. Hesitantly, she clicked on it, hoping that he would not cancel the meeting with her.

**Shuichi:** Hey Kaede, I am here. I just wanted to let you know I saved us a table at the back of the library.

Kaede didn’t panic... until she saw this message was from 10 minutes ago.

**Kaede:** Oh, sorry Shuichi! I did not see the message when you sent it to me! I am soooo sorry! I am coming over right now!

**Shuichi:** Ah, no need to rush. It’s fine. I did agree to start at 8, so it’s alright.

_ Oh, thank god. I thought I was about to have a heart attack. _

Even though Shuichi explained that he would not be mad, she still wanted to get there as soon as possible in order to spend as much time as possible with her new, and only, friend. This is the best opportunity she has ever had to make a friend and she was about to let it go!


	3. The First Day

Eventually, after 5 minutes of sprinting and panicking, she finally found the library. Before walking inside, she made sure that she was at least somewhat presentable to Shuichi. After calming down, she slowly opened the door to the library, only finding a couple of upperclassmen in the front. Slowly, Kaede walked towards the back, as that is where Shuichi said he would be.

“Psst! Over here!” Shuichi whisper yelled to Kaede.

Kaede immediately snapped her head in the direction of the noise and saw Shuichi sitting at the table. She quickly smiled and waved to him. He returned the wave as Kaede was coming to sit down next to him.

“Hey Shuichi!” Kaede beamed, hoping to start a conversation with the shy detective.

“H-hi Kaede! T-thank you for c-coming by!”

_ Uh? How come he is stuttering? He never stuttered when he asked me to come to the library? _

Eventually, Kaede realized that it is impossible to stutter while texting a message, so she went back to talking to the boy in front of her.

“Oh, it's not a problem Shuichi! What do you plan on doing here anyways?” Kaede genuinely asked, not knowing what they could do in a library other than reading books.

“I t-thought that we could just t-talk and get to know each other, and m-maybe read a book too. It is f-fine if we talk, as no one is near us right n-now.”

To confirm the declaration, Kaede quickly glanced around the library. There was not a single soul other than the students at the entrance, but they were so far away, it didn’t matter. Kaede beamed at the detective, happy that he was making the first move.

“I would like that! Is there something you would specifically want to talk about?” Kaede got Shuichi to pry a little when he invited her here, so she was really testing her luck when asking him to also start a face-to-face conversation. Luckily for her, her luck didn’t run out yet.

“A-actually, I was h-hoping that y-you would tell me m-more about y-yourself…” Shuichi barely whispered that last part. She saw that his hands were trembling and he seemed extremely nervous. She slowly went and put her hand on his. Instantly, Shuichi was redder than a tomato.

“Shuichi, why are you so nervous? It is just me! I swear I won’t make fun of you or do anything bad to you! I just want to be your friend! I don’t know what happened before, but I will always be here for you!”

Shuichi looked at Kaede dumbfounded. 

_ Crap! Did I go too fast? Saying “I will always be here for you” sounded like we knew each other for, I don’t know, more than a day!? God, when will I learn!? When will… _

“O-oh. T-thank you K-Kaede. I r-really appreciate t-that…”

At this point, Shuichi pulled his hat so far down that Kaede could barely see his nose. She didn’t mind, as her cheeks were tinted pink as well and she was quite embarrassed herself. After that awkward moment, they both sat next to each other in silence, trying to figure out what to do.

“Oh yea, you wanted to talk about me, right Shuichi? What was your question?”

“Ah… I w-was just w-wondering, how did you become t-the Ultimate Pianist?” Shuichi asked, still shaken up by their previous exchange.

“That’s simple! Ever since I was a young kid, I would always be playing the piano!” Kaede stated as she held up one finger.

“After that, I kept practicing piano almost every day. Eventually, I entered competitions all around the world, and even though I did not win all of them, I won a good amount of them! One day, I was in a big national competition and won! Unbeknownst to me, Hope’s Peak’s recruiters were watching me in the crowd. A couple of days after that, I got a letter stating that they wanted me to join!”

“Wow… that s-sounds amazing K-Kaede… That s-seems way better than how I got my t-title…”

“Hey! Don’t say that! I know you have an amazing story! You don’t have to tell me what that story is now, but I know that it’s great!” Kaede pumped up her fists in conviction, hoping to show Shuichi that she is telling the truth. Slowly, Kaede noticed the tension in the air, and she needed to cut it, fast.

“So Shuichi, do you have any other questions?”

“I t-think I'm good for now…” Shuichi took a deep breath and exhaled. “K-Kaede… while we are h-here, do you want to read s-something with me?”

Kaede beamed. This was the first time he asked her to do something, well, other than going to the library.

_ It makes sense that Shuichi is comfortable in a library. After all, he is a detective who likes books! If I was near my piano, I would be extremely comfortable talking to nearly everyone! Well… maybe not him... _

Kaede realized she was taking a little too long to answer the boy, so she quickly spat out an answer.

“Yup! I would love to Shuichi! Any books in mind?”

“Umm… I f-found this one not too l-long ago on one of the shelves.”

Kaede looked at the cover. There is a man in a suit holding a wine cup with colorful fireworks going off in the background.

“Hmm… this looks interesting Shuichi! You seem like an expert at picking out books, so I will trust that this will be amazing! Let’s begin!”

“R-really? You t-trust my decision?”

“Of course! But let’s start already! The day isn’t getting younger!”

“Y-yea, right.”

However, before they began reading Kaede had to move next to the detective so she could see the book. As the blonde moved closer to the bluenette, she noticed that he started to blush, although most of it was hidden behind his hat. Kaede didn’t really mind it, as she was ecstatic just to hang out with someone who seemed to like her as a friend.

An hour passed and they managed to read through the first two chapters.

_ Okay, I have to admit, that was not half bad. It is almost like he picked out the book specifically for me… _

“K-Kaede… I think this is a g-good time to stop… it’s a-already 9 pm.”

Kaede pulled out her phone to check the time. Sure enough, it was just past 9 at this point. They still had about 45 minutes before the nighttime announcement, but it was obvious that they were both tired and flustered from reading at this point.

“Yea, your right. We should head back to the dorms. Here, come on Shuichi! Let’s go!”

Kaede got up from her seat and immediately started skipping out of the library in glee.

“W-wait!” Shuichi ran behind her, hoping to catch up to her before she went too quickly.

The walk back to the dorms was mostly peaceful, but they purposely took a longer route in order to talk to each other more. The conversation was nothing special; just a conversation between two friends. Some jokes here and there, exchanging ideas and comments, and overall just having a great time. Kaede swore that during this talk, she saw him smile a little bit under his hat. She was making progress with Shuichi even though the first day of school hadn't even begun! That is something she was extremely proud of, and it instantly showed on her face, as symbolized by her smile.

Unfortunately, all great things have to come to an end, and they end up at their dorms. They said their goodbyes and started walking, only for it to get awkward once they realized their dorms were in the same direction. After a slight blush from Shuichi’s end, they both got to their dorm rooms. They were both excited and confused, as Shuichi’s dorm was directly across from Kaede.

_ This is great! My friend lives across from me, so if I need help, I could also just go to him lickity-split!  _

They both gave a small wave before they went into their respective dorms. After decompressing, Kaede changed into her pink pajamas and jumped onto her bed, stuffing the pillow into her face!

_ AHH! So much has happened today! I think I got a new friend! Shuichi seems really nice, and now I know that he actually likes me too! This is going to be a great year! Now that I have one person, I can try to… _

She cuts herself off, thinking about the events from earlier that day. The event where Kokichi and about half the class rejected being friends with her. This single-handedly almost drove her to tears. 

_ No! I can’t cry! I already cried too much about this before… _

She stared down at herself again. Again, she sighed.

_ I thought that people at Hope’s Peak would be a little more accepting, as everyone here are also Ultimates. Wouldn't that make sense? _

Unfortunately for Kaede, that didn’t make sense. Most of the people here were dedicated to their craft, which allowed them to build up a huge ego. They were not looking to make friends, especially with someone… like her…

_ Yea, that’s right. I need to look forward to tomorrow! Anyways, what time is it? Maybe I can text… _

“Attention all Hope’s Peak Students! It is 9:45 PM, which means it is officially night time. Again, you are required to be in your dorm room by 10 PM. Thank you, and have a great night! Look forward to your first day of class tomorrow!”

_ Speaking of the devil… _

Kaede laughed to herself as she lay in her bed.

_ Tomorrow will go perfectly! I will meet up with everyone else, and the people who I didn’t talk to yet will become my friends! _

Even though Kaede was determined to accomplish her tasks, deep inside, Kaede knew that this was a steep task that had a steep reward…

…

…

*Beep* *Beep* *Beep*

“I’m coming!” Kaede went over and quickly turned off her alarm clock.

“Geez, I need to get a quieter alarm…” Kaede pouted to no one in particular before noticing what the clock had to tell her. It told her that it was 7 am. 

_ Hmm… 7 am! That is plenty of time to get ready! Plus, I want to look a little bit better than usual today, as it will be my big day to see if anyone else wants to be friends with me! _

Immediately, Kaede decided to take a shower. She can’t go around smelling horrible on her big day! She took out her special strawberry shampoo and applied it to her hair. Normally, she would use something basic, but for an event as big as this, she thought that this was a special exception.

It wasn’t until 15 minutes later that Kaede exited the shower with a towel around her hair and stomach. She immediately went over to her closet to look for some clothes.

_ Do I really only have my Hope’s Peak Academy uniforms in here? Geez, I really need to go shopping out more! Maybe I can ask Shuichi to... No, wait. I can’t. That’s probably a task too big for a friendship I just made. Plus, I don’t think guys like to shop, especially, if it’s with me… _

Kaede sighed, hurrying over to the kitchen. Luckily for her, Hope’s Peak staff came by and dropped off groceries yesterday.

_ Holdon, how did they get into my room!? Well, I guess it doesn’t matter anyways… any staff can just open the dorm rooms… AND it's not like I'm doing anything bad in here!!! _

Before her eternal bickering went on for too long, Kaede decided to just choose something to eat. She eventually settled on something simple. Cereal. It didn’t take a long time to finish eating, and, afterwards, she quickly looked at the time.

_ Well, it is still 7:40, but I should still keep going. I want to see if I can talk to anyone else before class begins! _

Again, as Kaede was leaving her room, she put her backpack and placed her musical hairpins on her hair. She left her room, and because she visited the classroom yesterday, she knows where it was located.

_ I’m curious what Shuichi is doing right now? Is he in the library or is he just in bed still? _

Curiosity got the better of her and she decided to text him while walking to her location.

**Kaede:** Hey Shuichi, what’s up?

It only took about two minutes for the detective to respond.

**Shuichi:** Nothing much, how about you?

**Kaede:** Actually, I got a lot that is “up”! I am totally looking forward to personally meeting everyone else in the class. I hope I could also make new friends there! I'm even going to class early in order to make sure I can talk to people before then as well!

**Shuichi:** That seems nice. I should be there around 7:55 as well since I'm eating breakfast right now.

**Kaede:** Alright, that’s fine. Take your time. See you there!

**Shuichi:** See you and good luck!

**Kaede:** Thanks!

Kaede slid her phone into her backpack as she reached the front entrance of her classroom. She saw a couple of students standing just outside, some of them talking with each other while others were just standing near the door. Next to the door, she saw Maki and Kaito talking to each other near the door. The conversation did not seem too deep, but she noticed that Maki was looking away from Kaito, seeming embarrassed about something.

_ Wait, these are the people that Shuichi talked to right? Maybe if Shuichi was able to make friends with them, I can too? _

As luck would have it, Kaito noticed Kaede at that moment and decided to head over.

“Yo!”

Kaede instantly blushed, not realizing she was staring at them.

“Oh, hello Kaito! Maki!”

“What?” Maki stated coldly.

“Maki-roll, don’t be so harsh! I’m sure Kaede here just wants to be friendly.”

Maki’s face deadpanned. She stared at Kaito and Kaede could have sworn her eyes turned a darker shade of red for a moment.

“I told you do stop calling me that, you idiot. Do you want to die?”

Kaede took a step back. Her tone was extremely chilling and Kaede thought Maki might go through with it. Kaito, however, did not react. Just giving Maki a smile and a thumbs up.

“It’s fine Maki-roll! Anyways, we were here to talk to Kaede!”

Maki kept staring at Kaito for 10 more seconds, but then sighed and looked away. There was no winning this battle.

“Uh… You wanted to talk to me?”

“Totally! We saw you around Shuichi earlier and he mentioned how you guys were friends.”

_ Shuichi thinks of me as a friend AND admits that to other people!? _

At this moment, Kaede could not be happier. Someone liked her for her and wasn’t scared enough to tell everyone that she was Shuichi’s friend. Kaito, however, continued his tangent.

“Maki-roll and I thought that if you were friends with Shuichi, that we can become friends too! Any friend of Shuichi is definitely a friend of ours!”

Kaede was bubbling with excitement. Right before Kaede celebrated, a certain twin-haired girl had an argument.

“I never agreed to that. You can be friends with Kaede, but I’m leaving.”

Maki turned around and started to walk down the hall.

“Maki-roll! Wait!”

That didn’t do much to help. Maki still ended up walking down the hall until she was out of sight. Kaede’s smile slowly started to fade. Kaede thought that Kaito was going to leave her as well, until he placed a hand on her shoulder.

“Hey, don’t worry about it! Maki-roll just takes time to adjust! It took her an hour just to communicate with Shuichi! But don’t worry! I’ll be your friend until then!”

“Really?”

“Totally!”

At this moment, the pair saw a capped detective round the corner. He started walking to the classroom, immediately noticing two of his friends talking to each other.

“Shuichi!” They both said in unison. Kaito, however, decided to go up to him and ruffle up his hair through his cap.

“Hey bro, how’s it been?”

_ Bro? Since when did Kaito call Shuichi bro? _

“Hello Kaito. Hi K-Kaede...um… i-it’s been going a-alright. Just very anxious for t-today...”

“Yea, I can totally see, but don’t worry too much bro!” Kaito stated as he went back to ruffling his cap. “You will do just fine! I believe in you!”

Shuichi took a long pause to think about Kaito’s words before putting on a gentle smile and responding.

“T-thanks…”

The conversation went cold after that. No one knew what to do. With some amazing luck, the teacher was seen coming towards the door, and after unlocking it, allowed the students to go inside. Immediately, Kaede and Shuichi took the seats they choose yesterday. Kaito decided to sit on Kaede’s right. Maki, coming in right at the last moment, saw the empty seat next to Kaito. She then went ahead and made eye contact with Kaito, immediately regretting it.

“Come on Maki-roll! Sit next to me!” Kaito stated while giving her a thumbs-up.

She mentally sighed. “Fine, only because there are no more good seats left.”

Maki sat down as the teacher did introductions again. Since it was the first day of school, it mostly consisted of a mini field trip of the teacher explaining where everything in the school was along with explaining how the year was going to work. Shuichi was walking alongside Kaede for the most part, with Kaito and Maki on either side of them. As the day was winding down, everyone was getting tired. That field trip took all the life out of everyone and it seemed useless as they already knew where things were.

Right as they settled back down in their seats, the bells rang, symbolizing the end of the day!

“Alright class! That’s all for today! You better show up tomorrow or I’m going to come over to your dorm and drag you here myself!” Ms. Yukizome stated.

Everyone was scared of this threat, even Kaede. She knew she had to take this teacher seriously. After some time, everyone packed their stuff and left. Kaede was just about to stand up from her desk and follow her new friends until she heard some laughing.

“Kayaaaaydaaay!” 

_ Oh god, why him! _

In truth, Kaede already knew who that voice belonged to. It belonged to Kokichi, being followed by his gang of delinquents. This time, Miu was also with them. Did she join them too? Having no other option than to acknowledge them, Kaede turned her head slowly to see her nightmares have been realized: every single member who refused her friendship yesterday was standing right there! But then, Kaede thought of the best possible scenario.

_ Is he gonna tell me that I can be friends with everyone!? _

Alas, life is never that straightforward.

“Kayayday, what are you doing?” Kokichi stated, out of the blue.

“I'm just getting ready to leave, why… did you come and tell me that I could be friends with everyone!?”

Kaede beamed at the supreme leader, hoping this was the correct guess. Unfortunately for Kaede, it wasn’t. 

“NOPE! I just wanted to ask you something…”

Kaede tried to mentally prepare herself for the question, hoping it is something positive. The question, however, was the exact opposite of that.

“Why are you so horrible?”

This stunned Kaede. She had no idea what he was talking about. Noticing her expression, Kokichi tried to explain to Kaede what he was going on about.

“Yea, I mean! You're also so bossy and WAY too forward, always pushing people around! Also, just look at you!”

At that moment, Kaede felt very self-conscious, as she saw 8 pairs of eyeballs stare her up and down.

“EW!” Someone from the Kokichi squad explained, however, Kaede could not make out the culprit. 

“I know right?” Kokichi reciprocated. “Honestly, it’s a surprise that you even have any friends at all! Hell, I don’t even think you have any real friends.”

“T-that’s not true!” Kaede stuttered, trying to think of a counter-argument. “I have Shuichi, and even Maki and Kaito.”

This only made Kokichi, and about half of his team, laugh out loud.

“AH! Friends? Sorry, but I don’t think so. You just met Kaito and Maki and Shuichi seems to be more connected to those two more than you! I bet he just pities you and that is why he sometimes talks to you!”

Kaede felt tears starting to form in her eyes. She was always mocked for being lonely, but people would never bully her too much because of her reputation as an Ultimate. But Kaede forgot something important: everyone here is an Ultimate. Now, they would bully her even though she had a title as everyone else in Hope’s Peak also has one. However, that was not the real reason why her eyes generated water. At this stage, Kaede realized she was not going to gain any more friends.

“B-but, they are close to me…”

“Just shut the fuck up Bakamatsu! No one gives a shit about your useless rambling. You are just wasting my precious fucking time at this point!”

At this point, Kaede was about to burst into tears. All the other students in Kokichi’s squad were now talking amongst themselves, making rumors about Kaede.

“I bet she is not a real Ultimate. She is probably faking her piano skills.”

“Do you think she paid Shuichi to be her friend?”

“Gonta thinks it is not nice to pay fake friends!”

“She looks so ugly too. What the fuck happened to her? Did she have a freak accident?”

Right as she was about to sprint out of the room, she noticed a warm object suddenly placed on her shoulder. Snapping her head to the source, she then noticed that it was someone's hand. More specifically, it was Shuichi’s hand.

“H-hey, y-you guys s-shouldn’t be t-talking about Kaede like t-that.” His voice was stuttering more than usual. Kaede could physically see that Shuichi was shaking and that he used his other hand to pull his cap down the furthest it would go.

“Yea, or what? Mr. Fake Detective.” Kokichi spat out, his words sounding like venom.

“You're just an emo loser who doesn’t deserve to be here either Shuichi. What did you ever do, uh? I never saw you on the news. I at least remember seeing Kaede’s ugly ass on the T.V. once or twice. I never even fucking heard about you before!”

Even though his face was covered by his cap, Kaede can still see the physical effects this conversation was having on this boy. His shaking became violent and she could see tears coming out of his eyes. Before anyone else had a turn to speak, Kaede grabbed Shuichi’s arm and sprinted out of the classroom.

“Bye losers! See you assholes tomorrow! And don’t worry, we will have a special ‘surprise’ for you idiots then!” 

Kaede heard everyone in Kokichi’s small gang laugh at his most recent comment. She tried to not let that get to her. Luckily for Kaede, she was bullied often enough at her old school, so this did not affect her as much as it was affecting Shuichi. Once she was sure that they were far away from the bullies, and were alone, Kaede stopped and turned Shuichi around before placing both hands on his shoulders. Shuichi was stunned by this action, but what Kaede said next was even more shocking.

“Shuichi… Don’t listen to anything they said! They are lying! I know you're an amazing detective who can do so much if you put your mind to it! They are properly just jealous of you because you're so much better than they are! Don’t let negative comments like that affect you, because you have friends who will believe in you. Friends… like me! I believe in you Shuichi, so you should definitely believe in yourself!”

That seemed to help, as Shuichi’s eyes started to become a little less puffy, but she did notice that he was holding back a lot of tears. Slowly but surely, the tears started to slide down his face, on his cheeks, and land on the floor. After about 5 minutes in that position, Shuichi seemed to calm down. He took a few deep breaths and then looked at Kaede in her eyes. This was one of the first times she got to make eye contact with the boy and she noticed all his facial features. However, he made an expression that she did not like.

_ Shuichi… I would like to see all the animated expressions on your face behind your cap… but I would never want to see you cry... _

After some more hyperventilating, Shuichi eventually regained his composure and talked to the pianist. 

“T-thank you K-Kaede… you really h-helped me b-back there…”

“Don’t mention it Shuichi! Those guys are just assholes! I don’t even know why they are bullying people! I guess their egos have just gone to their small heads!”

They both had a small chuckle at this.

_ Good, this is what I want. Just something to get rid of this toxic atmosphere with a friend by my side! _

“Y-yea, I think what they m-mostly said was a lie...”

“Mostly? Shuichi, now that’s a lie! Everything that came out of their mouths was a fat lie!”

Again they chuckled, quickly relieving the tension. Kaede was good at reading the room, but it was usually hard for her to help fix the atmosphere. Fixing the atmosphere for Shuichi was definitely something she was willing to do and it seems to be working! Again, due to Shuichi being an introvert, the conversation went cold again. After a minute of thinking, Kaede swore a light bulb appeared on top of her head.

“Hey Shuichi, starting tomorrow, do you want to do homework with me? We can get it done in record time and… get to know each other more…” Kaede mumbled the last part of that announcement, too embarrassed to continue her thought process.

“S-sure K-Kaede, I would love to do that.”

At that moment, Shuichi gave Kaede a small smile. She couldn’t help but reciprocate that action. At that instant, they couldn’t help but feel like everything was going to be alright in the future. Boy, if only that was the truth.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! I hoped you enjoyed this chapter! If there are any grammar mistakes, I'm sorry. I try to proof-read everything, but some things slip under the radar.
> 
> Also, constructive criticism is welcome in the comments!


	4. The Lows and Highs

After that tearful conversation, it still took Shuichi a couple of minutes to mentally rebuild himself. After they both said their goodbyes, Kaede quickly went into her own lab. The first day of school was stressful, and since there were no assignments for the next day, she spent her time on the piano wasting her day away making beautiful music. Shuichi, however, had different plans.

As Shuichi was walking back to his dorm room, he quickly spotted Kaito. Immediately, Shuichi picked up speed in order to make it to his room unseen, but he ultimately failed.

“HEY! Shuichi!” Kaito’s voice boomed throughout the hallway so loudly that the whole school probably could have heard it.

At this point, Shuichi was still facing away from Kaito, but he stopped in his tracks. The purple-haired boy made his way to the detective, so Shuichi turned to face him.

“Yo, what are y-” Kaito stopped in his path, noticing something wrong with Shuichi’s face. His eyes were slightly red and puffy from the crying earlier and even his hat could not hide that fact.

“Shuichi… What happened?”

Shuichi stayed silent. He really did not want to talk about what just happened, but Kaito, of course, had to persist. Kaito slowly put his hand on Shuichi’s back as he finished his thoughts.

“Hey man… you know you can tell me anything right? I won’t make fun of you or anything, I swear! I will do everything in my power to help you!” He pumped his hands together, reminding the bluenette of a certain pianist.

“I-it’s nothing, it was j-just some bullies…” Shuichi was on the verge of tears. He was never good with people pushing him down and making fun of him. 

“What did they do?”

“They j-just said some mean t-things. God, I s-sound like a two-year o-old crying over something so s-s-stupid!” Shuichi nearly screamed that last statement as his emotions started to get the better of him. He realized this and quickly slapped his mouth shut. Kaito, however, had a different approach.

“Hmm… so that is your enemy? I got it!”

“W-what?”

“Your enemy! What you want to work against. Right now, you are scared of bullies and how they judge you, right? You want to get over them and speak your thoughts, right?”

As much as Shuichi wanted to deny that answer, he knew it was the truth. Slowly, he began to nod his head up and down, ultimately opting to stare at the floor rather than his friend's face.

“Okay! Then let’s change it!”

“U-uh?”

“Shuichi! You should come workout with me and Maki-roll! We plan on doing it every night from 10 pm to 11 pm.”

“Kaito!? Don’t the dorms lock at that time?”

“Well, not for me and Maki-roll.” Kaito slowly pat Shuichi’s back. “You see Shuichi, I’m the Ultimate Astronaut right?”

“Yea.”

“Doesn’t that require some sort of nighttime activities past 10 pm?”

Shuichi froze. He was right. He can’t do anything with his talent if the stars aren’t out. Even though he probably knew the answer already, Shuichi just wanted to confirm something.

“So you got an e-exception to stay out late by the headmaster?”

“BINGO! You really are the Ultimate Detective!” Kaito slapped his back, his time making the boy flinch.

“A-and, how do you plan for m-me to get that exception?”

“The same way I got one for Maki-roll! I’ll say I need you to help with physical astronaut training! Trust me, it will be perfect!”

If Shuichi were to be honest here, he didn’t think that would work. He would just feel bad for using the headmaster’s kindness to his own advantage. Also, what would training even do for him? Shuichi sighed, ready to just give in there and then. He had a long day and just wanted to head to his dorm and take a well-deserved nap.

“Alright Kaito. If you talk to the headmaster and get an excuse for me to go “train” with you, then I’ll do it.”

Kaito had a look of determination and fierceness in his eyes.

“Do you promise Shuichi?”

“Yea, I promise.”

Shuichi knew that this promise was fruitless. First of all, there was no way the headmaster would just give out nighttime exceptions without a good reason. On top of that, Shuichi doubted that Kaito even does training, but he has only known Kaito for a day, so he could be wrong. Kaito then immediately said his goodbyes and ran out in the opposite direction. Shuichi was now heading over to his dorm, happy this was over with.

…

…

“I shouldn’t have promised anything!” Shuichi screamed as he had just finished doing his 10th pushup.

“Great job Shuichi! Just 40 more and then we can start the next activity!”

Shuichi didn’t know whether to be more scared because he had to go through hell 40 more times or the fact that there are new exercises after this one.

“Ugh… Ah… I-I wasn’t m-made for this… I d-don’t think... I can d-do this...” Shuichi struggled to spit out this incomplete sentence, completing a couple more pushups in the process.

“Hey, don’t say that! The impossible is possible, all you have to do is make it so!”

“T-that sounds s-stupid!”

“Believe me, it is…”

Shuichi nearly fell over at the new voice. He looked up to see none other than Maki staring down at the two males.

“Why is Shuichi here?” Maki stated, almost annoyed.

“Ah, Maki-roll! Shuichi is here because he needed help getting over his enemy as well, so I invited him to do training with us! He will be here every night!”

“What!?” Shuichi yelped in complete surprise. “K-Kaito… I have to do this… every day?”

“Yup! Everyday! That is what it takes to defeat your enemy!” Kaito stared at Shuichi with a determined look. “Now come on Shuichi! Just 35 more pushups and you will be done with this exercise!”

Shuichi couldn’t even respond to that. If doing 35 push-ups was already difficult for him, how could he do anything else? At that moment, Maki went to the other side of Kaito and started doing push-ups, much quicker than Shuichi was. Before Shuichi reached his 30th pushup, Maki was already finished with not only the first exercise but also the second.

“M-Maki… how… ARG… are y-you going so fast…?”

“This is nothing. Before this, I used to train in order to take care of the children. It was a way to decompress while also making sure that I have the strength to detain many children at once if something goes wrong.” 

For some reason, Shuichi was not convinced, but the pain in his arms were finally starting to set in as he finally completed his 50th pushup.

“I’m done! Finally!”

“Great job, sidekick!”   


_ Sidekick? Since when did I become his sidekick? We only knew each other for all of 2 days? _

“You have completed the first part of the training! Now onto the other 3!”

Shuichi stared at Kaito wide-eyed and in shock.

_ This is the last time I'm promising ANYTHING to Kaito... _ ...

...

...

After around another hour or so, Shuichi finished all of his exercises, as Kaito waited for him to finish everything. Maki only took 10 minutes before she finished everything and left, seeming annoyed at something. Kaito also noticed this and said that the first time they did this together, she stayed for the entire time. Something was definitely fishy.

“And… done! See Shuichi, that wasn’t so bad, right?”

If not so bad meant feeling like Shuichi’s noodle arms and legs were seconds from snapping off along with the fact that it is now near impossible for him to walk in this state, then it definitely wasn’t bad at all.

“Kaito… that was... so d-difficult…”

“Obviously it has to be difficult! If it wasn’t, then there would be no point in training, right Shuichi?”

Shuichi knew he was correct, so he nodded his head, but he still needed to ask Kaito something.

“Yea… but why did you want me to train with you? I never trained before… I think my appearance gives that off…” Shuichi, again mumbled that part, but Kaito still heard it.

“Well… I got a question for you… don’t you feel calm right now? For the time you were training with me, didn’t you forget your problems? Worries?”

Once again, Shuichi nodded.

“And that’s why I choose you, Shuichi! You need some time to calm down every day! I can tell you were way too stressed out and needed to forget about that... incident. Plus, I see your arms are thinner than a piece of paper. Maybe after this, you will be able to defend yourself from those bullies or at least look intimidating.”

_ Fighting them off? Sorry Kaito, but that's impossible. Even if I had the strength to, my background as a detective won’t let me do that. Additionally, from my time as a detective, fighting fire with fire almost never works anymore… _

Just as Shuichi was about to voice his concerns, Kaito spoke up.

“Yea, I know you're not the fighting type, but if something terrible happens, at least you won’t be a sitting duck for the whole time, right?”

Shuichi pondered this question. Sure, when he got pushed around, he didn’t have the mental or physical strength to deal with it… but if he had that strength…

Kaito and Shuichi kept glaring at each other, which was when Kaito broke the silence.

“Well, it’s 11 pm right now, and we have class at 8 am. We should get some shut-eye.”

Kaito reached out his hand and pulled Shuichi up. Shuichi’s entire body was still sore from the workout, so Shuichi needed Kaito’s help to get to the dorm. Once there, Shuichi waved Kaito goodbye and clumsily made his way to his dresser. He instantly tossed on a set of pajamas and went to bed. As soon as he closed his eyes, Shuichi was in a deep sleep. For the first time in a long while, Shuichi slept peacefully at night, not thinking of any of his problems.

...

...

*BEEP* *BEEP*

“AHHH!” Shuichi jumped at the sound of the alarm clock. Since he was already near the edge of the bed, the sound made him lose his balance and he fell off of his bed. Just as he hit the floor, he banged his head on the table where the alarm clock was located. Unfortunately, that caused the alarm clock to also come down with Shuichi, hitting him on his stomach.

“OUCH!” Quickly, Shuichi turned the alarm off the still ringing clock. He luckily did that in time, or else he would have thrown it out of the window out of frustration.

“*Sigh* Another day, another migraine...” Shuichi let out a groan. He quickly got out of bed and took a shower, for hygienes sake. He didn’t want to get bullied again just for smelling bad after he sweat an ocean yesterday.

After that shower, he quickly put on one of his uniforms and made sure he was ready for the day.

“Book. Check. Bag. Check. Pencil. Check. All ready to go…” Shuichi said that last phrase sullenly. He knew today would be difficult. He would have to face those bullies again in class after he ran away yesterday. Now heading to the door, Shuichi’s mind wondered. He knew would have to face the bullying alone. After all, who would help him? Well, at that moment, he opened the door and saw the light that would guide him through his troubles.

“Hi Shuichi!” His best friend, Kaede, excitedly exclaimed. Shuichi, however, felt like he just got jumpscared. He screeched as he jumped backwards, almost falling over himself. “Woah! Careful Shuichi! Are you alright!”

“Y-yea, I’m fine… you just s-scared me is all… I wasn’t expecting you by the door.” Shuichi guaranteed he whispered that last bit, but because of Kaede's exceptional ears, she heard every word.

“Oh… I’m sorry… I was just wondering if you wanted to go and get breakfast at the cafe? Maybe this could be our own little tradition?”

Shuichi thought about that for a solid minute. He didn’t know if he’d be comfortable with sitting in the public for a long time, but he didn’t want to lose his best friend over something so trivial.

“S-sure. I’d love to join you!”

“YAY! Thank you Shuichi! Now come on, let’s go!” Kaede hurriedly skipped away, making her way to the cafe. On her way there, she seemed to remember something, so she promptly turned around to the tired detective.

“Say, how was yesterday with Kaito!? Did he get you permission to stay up late from the principal!?”

_ Oh yea, I completely forgot I told her about that promise I made with Kaito… _

So then, while walking to their usual hangout spot, which they just hung out at once, Shuichi explained everything to Kaede. The promise, how Kaito magically got permission, and how he made Shuichi do all these hellish exercises.

“Huh, interesting...” Kaede said as they reached the cafe and were now choosing what they were getting for breakfast. “That sounds difficult? Why did he make you do all those ridiculous exercises? I mean, you're not the Ultimate Bodybuilder or anything, right?”

Shuichi chuckled awkwardly at her joke. “Honestly, I’m not c-completely sure myself. Something about ‘facing my enemy’.”

Kaede and Shuichi were now walking towards their table in the back. Unfortunately for them, they caught the attention of unwanted company. They soon sat down and started to talk about this and that. However, it was mostly about Kaede and her experiences playing the piano. They were both having a fantastic time, smiling and laughing out throughout the morning. Unfortunately, they failed to see some mischievous students sneaking behind them.

“OH! And Shuichi, there was also this time that-”

Kaede got interrupted, not by a person, but by a thing. It was a cold liquid that suddenly made her drenched from head to toe. She looked across from her and saw that her friend was in the same situation. He was covered head to toe in the same white liquid. She quickly scanned the area in order to find the culprit and that's when she saw a small purple-haired boy with a green-haired male running away from their location. With empty cups in their hands, they both ran back to the table with all of their friends, bragging how they just threw milk on the poor duo.

“HA! You got those stinky fuckers good!” Kaede and Shuichi both knew where that insult came from. It obviously came from the inventor who had a sailor’s mouth.

“Hell yea! Good work Rantaro! They sure got their 'surprise'!”

Rantaro and Kokichi then proceeded to high-five each other before looking back at Shuichi and Kaede.

“Pfft! They look so pathetic! At least their disgusting looks match now!”

Again, everyone in the group laughed at Kaede and Shuichi’s expense. Obviously, they were both angered, but they could not show it on their faces. Kaede, however, noticed some water dripping down from Shuichi’s face. It only took a keen eye to notice it was not water, yet tears that were flowing from the detective's face. Once he noticed her looking, Shuichi immediately pulled his hat down while wiping them away, signaling to the pianist that he was okay with a shaky thumbs-up. As if they were on the same brainwave, Kaede and Shuichi both got up and walked to the exit, but this nightmare was not over yet.

“Take this degenerate male!”

The Aikido master threw something, hard, aiming for the detective. Upon impact, he immediately figured out what it was: a spoonful of yogurt.

“You have angered Auta, Kaede! So now, he wants you to have this!”

Luckily for Kaede, the artist's aim was much worse than the Aikido master’s, so whatever she threw only hit her lower leg where her stocking was. Unfortunately, it was worse than some yogurt. When she looked at her leg, she saw a splotch of red paint on her leg. After this, Kaede snatched Shuichi’s arm and ran off with him before anything else happened, not before hearing a gigantic amount of laughter coming from the cafe. Without a single word being exchanged between them, they made it back to their dorms. They each were in front of their respective dorm rooms staring each other down. Surprisingly, it was Kaede who broke down first. Shuichi noticed that she started to shake and that her face was tearing up.

“K-Kaede?”

“I’m so sorry Shuichi!” Kaede screamed, loud enough for any passersby to hear.

“Sorry? For w-what Kaede?” Shuichi was getting nervous, thinking that maybe he did something wrong as well.

“I’m sorry for forcing you to be with me! I knew I would get bullied and still pulled you around because I wanted a friend! Look where that got you!” She pointed at his now stained clothes while the waterworks were still open.

“I knew I should have just been alone! I’m such an idiot! No wonder no one even likes me. I probably ruined our friendship too because I was such a selfish brat! God, im so fucking stupid!” She placed her own hands on her eyes as she kept crying. Meanwhile, Shuichi was surprised at the sudden turn of events, but he knew exactly what had to be done.

“K-Kaede…” Shuichi slowly approached Kaede, still scared and shaking from the encounter with Kokichi and Rantaro. Once he was close enough, he gently placed his shaking hands on her shoulders, hoping to gain her attention. Luckily, it worked.

“S-Shuichi?”

“K-Kaede, it i-isn’t your fault f-for what happened. I-it was their f-fault for being huge bullies. I will never hold y-you accountable for that. B-besides, I agreed to be your friend because I w-wanted to, not because I had to. Y-your a great p-person Kaede, you're so nice, and I’d… um… n-never be angry at you for s-something you didn’t do. I-if you tell me not to listen to them, then I’m telling you n-not to listen to them e-either.”

Kaede looked up at the boy holding her shoulders. Even with tears clogging her vision, she could still tell that the detective meant every word that he stated, as he too was on the verge of a water show. 

“Shuichi…” Kaede’s body moved on its own, and before she knew it, she ended up embracing the detective in a gentle hug. It wasn’t too hard to put any strain on the detective or suggest anything, but it wasn’t soft enough to be any sort of accident.

“T-thank you, Shuichi. I r-really needed that…” Kaede muddled near Shuichi’s ear. The bluenette instantly came flustered and was racing to become a dark shade of red quickly. Even so, Shuichi was still not finished.

“Y-your welcome, K-Kaede…” Shuichi then returned the gesture by giving Kaede a light hug as well. For the next few minutes, they stood there in silence, only in each other's arms. They only separated once the bell decided to ring, notifying the duo that they were late for their first class.

“We, r-really should get showered before going to c-class, right Shuichi?’

Shuichi simply nodded at her statement and they then went into their respective dorm rooms to take a shower. Kaede, however, was thinking about what just happened between her and Shuichi.

_ Did I really just tell him how I felt? I never do that. If I did that before, it would usually just make things worse. After all, no one wants to help a fat fuck like me anyways. I don’t even have that much going for me. My hair is always messy, I’m overweight, and no one likes it when I try to help them. The only way I am passable at piano concerts is if I put a mountain of makeup on myself. But, why did I just tell Shuichi that? Is this what having a true friend is like? _

Kaede would have kept thinking, but a knock on her door stopped her momentum. Already having a good idea of who was on the other side, she responded by saying “one minute Shuichi!” while throwing on her spare clothes. Her backpack, however, was still completely soaked with milk. Sighing, she took out everything important and just planned on carrying everything herself. This was until she opened the door.

“Hi, Kaede…” She saw Shuichi outside with an empty and full bag in his hands, seemingly from one of the nearby grocery stores.

“I thought, that… um… you needed a place to put e-everything, so… here!” He practically shoved the empty bag in front of her, looking at her for approval. Thankfully, she gave him what he wanted.

“Thank you, Shuichi. This is exactly what I needed. Guess I know why you're the Ultimate Detective now, right? Hehe.” Kaede gave him a small chuckle while giving him a smile. Granted, it was not as bright as her normal ones, but after what just happened, Shuichi could never blame her.

“We should get to class before Ms. Yukizome asks us why we are l-late…”

“Oh, that’s right Shuichi! Come on...” Silently, they made their way to the dreaded classroom, where all of their assaulters laid. The last thing they wanted was to enter that hellish place, but, knowing Ms. Yukizome, there was no avoiding it. The second they opened the door, everyone's eyes snapped to the pair of students. Unfortunately for them, Ms. Yukizome seemed quite annoyed.

“Hey! You two! Why are you-” She stopped mid-sentence after noticing how they looked. Shuichi and Kaede both had slight frowns on their face and slightly wet hair, as they just exited the shower. They were also both carrying plastic bags with their books and supplies inside of instead of their usual backpacks. That, on top of the multiple students snickering in the background, gave her a clear sign of what actually caused these students to be tardy.

“Take a seat.” She gently said to the two students. They were pleasantly surprised by her action but decided not to bite the hand that fed them and just sit down. Apart from the incident, everything seemed normal, until Kaede noticed that Maki and Kaito were taking quick glances at their friends once in a while.

_ Great. Now I’m going to have to explain everything to them too. Will they be on my side or just pity Shuichi? After all, they are closer to him than me… _

For the most part, Kaede couldn’t concentrate on the teacher, as she kept hearing smirks and snickers from the back of the class. Luckily, Shuichi seemed hyper-focused on the teacher.

_ Maybe I can just ask Shuichi for help on the notes once he comes over to do homework with me. Homework? Homework! Oh my god! I forgot I invited Shuichi to come over and do homework with me! What do I do! Does he even want to be with me! I know he forgave me, but does he really want to spend even more time with me!? _

Her thoughts were stopped as the bell began to ring. All the students got up to leave, and just as Maki and Kaito were approaching Shuichi and Kaede, all four of them noticed the piercing gaze of the teacher. Maki and Kaito took the sign and told the other two students they would be waiting outside while Shuichi pulled down his hat in order to avoid her glance, for some reason. Maki and Kaito proceed to leave, leaving the duo with the teacher.

“Who did it?” She calmly asked, as if this sort of thing was not at all new to her.

“Huh, what do you mean?” Kaede stumbled on her words, grasping at straws.

“Not only you guys came in late, but you looked sad and don’t even have backpacks. I’m assuming someone did something to you guys, right? And you were late because you had to get something, right?”

Kaede and Shuichi looked at each other and sighed. They knew that no matter what they said, Ms. Yukizome would just come back and question them until she forced the answers out of them. They decided to bite the bullet and they told her everything, from what happened the first time they met to what happened in the cafe earlier today.

“Oh my. So, those are the types of students I’m dealing with? Trust me, I hate dealing with delinquents just as much as you do, especially because they are impossible to punish.”

“WHAT!?” They both screamed in unison.

“Yea, I mean, these people work all their lives to get into Hope’s Peak. Once they're in, they literally have to blow something up to even get suspended. I’m sorry, but even if you tell the principal, it will seem like a waste of time as they will MAYBE get detention. Also, if you snitch, they will likely come back at you harder than before, so detention as a punishment is rarely worth it.”

She made a point. It would be hard to punish them if they were in Hope’s Peak.

“But…” She stated, which made the heads of the two students perk up. “What you can do is just avoid them by going to your labs or dorms. One of the only rules people take seriously here is that you can not enter a dorm or lab without the owner's consent, as it could slow down the learning of their talent. Use that rule in order to get away from them when it gets difficult.”

“We will make sure to do so! Thank you!”

“Alright you two! Have a great day! I wish you the best of luck!” Slowly, the pianist and detective left the classroom, immediately to see Maki and Kaito standing right near the door.

“What’s up with you two?” Maki’s cold words also cut directly through both of them.

“N-nothing, just some b-bullies again…” Shuichi clarified to the other two. Maki and Kaito looked peeved off.

“UGH! Those scum! Who do they think they are bullying my sidekick and his best friend!” Kaito’s voice boomed throughout the hallway, clearly enraged. “When I get my hands on them…”

“K-Kaito! Please, d-don’t do anything rash! We shouldn’t stoop to their l-level. Additionally, it won’t do anything…”

“What? What do you mean it won’t do anything!?”

“Their Ultimates, Kaito. The school d-doesn’t care what they do, as long as they p-pass the exams…”

“Damn it…” After that, it suddenly became too quiet for anyone's comfort. That is until Kaito decided to speak up. “Oh, and Kaede! Do you want to come train with the three of us! It will be exciting and thrilling, I promise!”

One look at Shuichi told Kaede that Kaito was definitely over exaggerating. As much as she did want to spend more time with her other friends, especially Shuichi, her Ultimate talent denied her of this experience.

“Sorry Kaito, I can’t join you. I have to keep my fingers in shape for playing the piano, and I’m scared that working out too much will make my fingers tired or even worse… sorry…”

Kaede expected the worst. For them to tell her to stop being so lazy and join them. 

“Oh, that's fine. I totally understand! I will just have to make-do with Shuichi here!” Kaito slapped Shuichi’s back in a friendly manner while gigging. Luckily everything worked out to Kaede’s advantage.

“Also, Shuichi, is the only thing that happened today, you know, the bullying for school?”

“Nope, that’s all I got.”

“Then why were you late?”

“Kaito, Shuichi and I were late because we had to take a shower after they split milk on us and threw stuff at us.”

Maki immediately lifted her head as her eyes took on a darker shade of red. She seemed royally pissed now, as she just discovered that the bullying became physical. Verbal bullying was wrong, but physical bullying was crossing many boundaries.

“I will be back. See you guys tomorrow morning.” Maki sprinted to an unknown location, with a certain astronaut following behind.

“Wait for me!” Shuichi and Kaede had a small chuckle watching the couple scurry away.

“Hopefully, Maki doesn’t do anything too rash… she s-seemed pretty serious.” 

“Yea, only time can tell Shuichi…” Again, it went silent. Kaede hated these moments, so she, once again, started up the conversation.

“So, Shuchi… do you wanna do homework at my dorm then?” At that moment, Shuichi then started to become red as blood at the realization. 

_ Huh, I guess Shuichi also forgot that we were doing homework together. Ah, he looks so cute like that! _

_ … _

_ … _

_ … _

_ DID I JUST CALL HIM CUTE!?! _

Because of her own thoughts, Kaede started to slightly blush before quickly moving away so Shuichi would not be able to see her face. With another “come on Shuichi!”, they made their way into her dorm to start the homework process. Unfortunately, Kaede was too engrossed in her thoughts in order to comprehend what the assignments even were. As soon as they plopped themselves on the table, she asked him for the homework. Luckily, Shuichi was very understanding of the whole citation and let her copy down the homework problems.

_ Math!? Oh my god! I’m gonna be stuck on this forever! _

While Kaede was an excellent musician, she was a horrible mathematician. Looking at math was more confusing than learning a new language. After all but 5 minutes of attempting the first problem, Kaede was about ready to give up.

“UGH! This is too hard! How do you do this?”

“Um… Kaede… I-if you want… I can teach y-you...” Shuichi responded out of the blue.

_ Will he really teach me correctly? Well, only one way to find out _ .

“Really, you would do that for me Shuichi?”

“Of course!” Shuichi gave Kaede one of the biggest grins he had ever given her, which was still almost nothing compared to her normal smiles. Either way, this was an improvement for Shuichi and Kaede couldn’t be happier. This chain reaction eventually lead to Kaede also smiling ear to ear while also slightly blushing. After she was sure her blush left her face, she got closer to Shuichi in order for the teaching to begin.

“Alright! Time to learn math!”

After a couple of hours going through textbook hell, Kaede finally learned the basics.

“Finally, DONE!” Kaede exclaimed, throwing her hands up in the air and falling backwards into the carpeting. Shuichi lightly chuckled as he put his homework back into his grocery bag. 

“Say, Shuichi! That wasn’t too bad! You taught me very quickly! No wonder you're a detective; you're so smart!”

Shuichi's brain nearly exploded from this complement, but his cheeks certainly become rosier at this moment. He tried to pull his hat over his blush, as he was aware of how red his cheeks were at this moment.

“T-thank you, Kaede… I really a-appreciate it…”

“No problem Shuichi, but it's getting kinda late for doing homework, don’t you agree?”

They both looked at the clock, which read 5 pm. Sure, that wasn’t too late to a normal person, but they were Ultimates who needed to refine their talents. They need at least a couple of hours a day in order to improve their talents, or else Hope’s Peak might kick them out due to underperformance. Looking back at Kaede, Shuichi voiced his thoughts.

“Yea, you are right Kaede… I should really g-get back to my l-lab.” At this moment, Kaede remembered something crucial.

“Oh, Shuichi. We never got to see each other's labs, right?”

“No…”

“Great! Let’s give a tour of our labs, okay? Maybe on Saturday, when we have the time? That way, we can learn a little bit more about each other and... maybe do homework in one of our labs instead of a stuffy dorm room?”

“Sounds l-like a plan!”

“Great! So, I guess this is goodbye for today, right? I’ll see you first thing in the morning, okay?”

“Y-yes Kaede. Please, be safe yourself o-okay? Anyways, have a good rest of your day!”

“You too Shuichi!”

And with that, they both split off to do their separate tasks. Shuichi went back to his lab and was still trying to figure out some cases he had been assigned to from either his uncle or Hope’s Peak themselves. Kaede, however, instantly went up to practice with her piano to prepare for something big in the following few days. It was hopefully going to be fantastic, for her, and her guest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Valentine's day! Hope you enjoy the update!


	5. The Visit

Kaede would have loved to describe the following week as being perfect. Kaede and Shuichi hung out and did their homework together, getting along excellently. Unfortunately, even she knew that was a lie. In reality, it was a long, long week. Kokichi and his “friends” decided to keep going on with their shenanigans. One day, Rantaro took Kaede’s backpack and hid it somewhere in the school. Luckily, thanks to Shuichi’s detective knowledge, the backpack was eventually retrieved. The very next day, everyone convinced Gonta to put some sort of gigantic bees in Shuichi’s dorm room. Shuichi let his more feminine side show as he screamed for help when he faced the monstrosity of his own dorm room. The day after that, Kaede thought that they gave her and Shuichi a small break for their misery. They were content, for a while, until they discovered one crucial fact.

“Hey Shuichi, where is the key to my dorm?”

“Not o-on me! But it's strange, I don't have mine either…”

Even though they had an Ultimate detective at their disposal, it certainly did not take one in order to figure out that Kokichi pick-pocketed the duo for their keys. They sighed as they went on to attempt to find the purple-haired creature. They finally found him, only to be forced to play hide and seek with him for their items Kokichi was keeping hostage. Eventually, the duo received their prizes, but it was already too late in order to truly do anything else other than homework that day.

Fortunately, on other days, Kaede still had some time to prepare which piece she will use and practice a little bit before that dreaded Saturday. It wasn’t supposed to be dreaded for either party, as they were just hanging out in each other’s research labs. The only problem is Kaede had a little surprise for the detective; one she hoped he hadn’t figured out yet. One of his strong suits is being able to see through a person and tell what they are planning. Hopefully, she was not as seethrough as she thought she was.

*BEEP* *BEEP*

This time, Kaede just slowly woke up and sat near the end of her bed.

_ I thought I put that thing in the closet… how did that get here? _

It was WAY too early for Kaede to be thinking about something so trivial, especially considering that she had a guest today. What Kaede would have wanted to tell the detective is to meet her at her research lab. However, due to her piano addiction, she completely forgot how much of a mess that place is. 

_ I need to clean that place up in order to not look like too much of a snob to Shuichi. I can’t mess this up too… _

Suddenly, Kaede started to get a slight headache. She wondered what could have caused this until she noticed the alarm clock was still on a rampage. She decided enough is enough and just took out the batteries. 

_ My phone has an alarm clock on it that DOESN’T want to make me throw it out the window every morning. _

She heavily sighed and finally began her day. She quickly showered and then changed into uniform, even though it was a weekend, and decided to make breakfast. Right when she was going to begin, she got a text from the only person who had her number.

**Shuichi:** Hey Kaede! I was just wondering what time we were going to meet up and whose lab we were going to visit first. We totally forgot to discuss that, haha.

**Kaede:** Honestly, I am available right after breakfast! So would 9:30 work for you?

**Shuichi:** Yea, that would be perfect, but whose lab are we going to go to first?

**Kaede:** How about mine? That way, we can stay there until lunch and then go to yours. There, we can talk about detective things and then do homework! I think it would be better to do homework at your lab because, you know, detectives and logic.

**Shuichi:** Yea, I understand! That works for me! In that case, see you in an hour!

**Kaede:** Bye Shuichi! See you then!

As quick as lightning, she checked the time on her phone, which read that it was 8:30. She was behind schedule! Zooming to the kitchen, she decided to eat a couple of pieces of toast and throw a special backup snack in her backpack for later, which would suffice for now. She needed to hurry to her lab. And boy oh boy did she hurry. By 8:50, she was already at the front of her lab door, dreading to get inside.

When she opened the door, Kaede finally realized how horrible her lab was. There was a mess everywhere! The sheet music everywhere and stains from random drinks on the floor. Food wrappers were laying on the ground and she wore there was at least one fly in the room along with one of her spare vests. The only spotless thing in the room was the piano, which she had taken special care to clean.

_ Geez… this is what I get for being so addicted to the piano that I forget to take care of the space around it... _

As quick as her legs could possibly take her, she ran around the room, attempting to clean it up. She picked up sheet music from the floor and tried to place them back as neat as possible onto the rack. She then attempted to pick up the trash from the floor and throw it away. It took a lot of work and she was only halfway done before she heard something coming from the door.

*KNOCK* *KNOCK* *KNOCK*

Kaede froze, not knowing if she should answer or not. Fortunately, the person on the other side of the door took initiative. 

“Kaede? Are you in there?”

She recognized that voice. It had to have come from Shuichi! She quickly checked her phone and saw it was 9:20. He was early!

“I’m here Shuichi! You kinda came early…”

“O-oh, yea, sorry. I just wanted to c-come here as quickly as possible without being late…”

Kaede had no idea what to do. On one hand, she did not want to shoo him away because it was rude and she can’t risk being rude to her only true friend. On the other hand, her lab was still a mess. She couldn’t let him in.

_ Well, Shuichi is a detective. He is going to find out the truth either way… might as well spill the beans now. _

“Hey Shuichi, I would let you in now, but it is kinda messy in my lab… that's why I came here early myself…”

“Oh…”

Awkward silence filled the area around them. Neither one of them knew how to advance the conversation without making it even worse until Shuichi came up with a brilliant idea.

“I c-can help you clean up…”

“What?”

Shuichi, thinking Kaede didn’t hear him, restated his previous statement. “I can help you c-clean your lab. That way it will be q-quicker…”

Kaede was stunned. No one had ever offered to help her do anything, let alone clean something with her. Kaede knew not to be too hasty, or else it might seem like she is using Shuichi. She proceeded with the conversation a little skeptical of everything.

“Are you sure Shuichi? You don’t really need to help me. After all, I could just do it by myself!”

“N-no… I insist. Besides, t-that's what friends do, right?”

Kaede thought about it for a second and realized he was right. Friends do help friends. She just never had such a close friend before, so this was a foreign experience. Slowly, Kaede walked up to the door and opened it for the detective. She expected to see a look of disgust on his face for her messy room, but instead, she got a small smile.

“L-let’s start…it looks like we h-have our work c-cut out.” Shichi replied shyly, slowly dipping his head upwards. Kaede, on the other hand, was quite content with herself. 

_ Shuichi is actually helping me do this. Does that mean he is truly my friend? Also, did he just crack a joke? _

Thoughts like that kept circling in her mind as they both cleaned up her lab. Once in a while, she peeked at Shuichi to make sure he was actually cleaning up. Sure enough, the kid detective was pulling his own weight in the process, confirming Kaede’s earlier theory. Eventually, both of the freshmen finished cleaning up the lab at around 9:45 and decided to take a break by sitting at one of the chairs in the lab.

“I didn’t expect cleaning up to be that tiring, but at least the lab is the cleanest I have ever seen it! Thank you for all the help Shuichi!”

Shuichi noticed that Kaede beamed a huge smile in his direction. He couldn’t help but reciprocate her smile while a small blush appeared on his face. Before he could embarrass himself further, he decided to look away.

“So, Shuichi how do you like my lab?”

Shuichi then looked around the lab to admire all of its features. Smack in the center of the room was a gorgeous grand piano. Behind it seemed to be where Kaede stored all of her music sheets while also having a recording device next to the piano bench. Next to the chairs, there seemed to be three huge windows, allowing light to come through and illuminate the entire room, making everything look magical.

“It looks amazing... I wish my lab was as c-cool as this…”

“What!? I bet your lab looks spectacular Shuichi! We will have to check up on it later. For now, though, since you are here, I'm going to play the piano for you!”

“Uhh? R-really? F-For me?”

“Yup! It’s going to be amazing! Trust me!”

“I don’t doubt that… b-but w-why me? I’m just an ordinary apprentice... I s-shouldn’t-”

“Shuichi!” Kaede went up to him and grabbed his shoulders, which forced him to stop his tirade. “That is not true! You're an amazing detective and you totally deserve to listen to me! If I didn’t think so, I wouldn’t have offered! Now go sit down!”

At this point, Kaede’s determination was near infinity. So much so that she physically pulled the blue-haired boy and sat him in one of the guest chairs. She smiled at him before going up to the piano and getting everything ready. From where Shuichi was sitting, the angle was perfect, as he got to see her pressing down on the keys while being able to view her whole body playing the piano. While Shuichi was waiting, Kaede had her own dilemma, as the reality of the situation set in.

_ Okay Kaede, you are just going to play for Shuichi. This should be simple, so why are you panicking? _

She took a deep breath, looked one more time at her audience, and then began to play her favorite song: Clair De Lune. After the first couple of keys, Shuichi got completely entranced by the melody. The melody slowly seeped into his ears as he finally got to experience the beauty of the piano. The music came and lifted all of his worries and fears and replaced them with calmness and strength. He felt at peace with himself and everything around him. He felt like the previous week was just an illusion and this moment in time was reality. At that moment, nothing else mattered other than the beautiful tune and the pianist. He closed his eyes and imagined looking at a dark, but peaceful, night, staring at the flowers and trees around him as they moved in the rhythm of the perfect melody. In the middle of everything stood a blonde woman, with her hair blowing in the wind, wearing a gorgeous floral dress. She was playing the piano elegantly, as her fingers methodically danced on the keys. It was peaceful and Shuichi couldn't help but get closer to that pianist. Just as the mysterious lady was about to turn around to face him, Kaede played the final notes of the piece, snapping Shuichi out of his own thoughts. The completely oblivious Kaede quickly turned to her spectator and asked a simple question with a bright smile plastered on her face:

“How was it?”

Shuichi honestly didn’t know how to answer that. There were no words on how to describe what he felt in that short time. That is until he remembered how he felt during the whole ordeal.

“It was brilliant, beautiful, and it felt peaceful…” 

Kaede instantly beamed him a huge smile and slightly flushed. This was not only because of what he was but what he did.

_ Shuichi didn’t stutter. This is one of the first times that has happened. It’s almost like the melody helped him. But… I felt like something was… off about my playing. I don’t know what… but I felt like I am missing something important… I will have to figure it out later... _

Before Kaede could dive deeper into her thoughts, Shuichi kept going with his compliments.

“It’s no wonder that you're the Ultimate Pianist… that was perfect!”

“Thank you so much Shuichi! You have no idea how much that means to me!”

Kaede got closer to Shuichi and, admittingly, awkwardly stood there for around a minute. This is until she had her eureka moment.

“Shuichi!” Kaede loudly screamed. “Do you want me to teach you how to play the piano!? It will be some much fun and… and a great way for us to interact!” The noise level did not decrease as Shuichi clearly saw sparkles in her eyes.

_ She looked so entranced playing the piano… and it did look fun… plus I have nothing better to do… _

Shuichi looked back at the blonde and smiled.

“Y-yes, I would love to… b-but I don’t know how to play at all…” Shuichi stated quite embarrassed of himself. He lowered his cap over his head and looked at the floor. Kaede seemed not to notice or care, as she quickly grabbed his arm and forcefully pulled it towards the piano.

“That doesn’t matter Shuichi! I will teach you from the bottom up!”

Again, Shuichi managed to get another glance at the pianist and all he saw were stars in her eyes.

_ She looks kinda cute like that… I HAVE TO STOP THINKING LIKE THIS! _

Shuichi quickly tried to hide what he was thinking about, but a blush had already appeared on his face. Kaede, determined to teach Shuichi the piano, did not notice. Once the detective was seated, Kaede quickly dashed over to her music sheet collection and took out some sheets.

“Okay Shuichi! Let’s begin!”

“Huh? Right now?”

“Yup! The sooner the better, right? I want to teach you everything there is to know about the piano!”

“D-do you really think I can do that Kaede? That seems really hard…”

“Of course you can Shuichi! I know you can do anything you can put your mind to! Just believe in yourself as much as I believe in you!”

Shuichi’s face was now tinted red and he turned away from the pianist to not get caught.

“T-thank you Kaede… I’ll try my best!”

“Yup! That’s the spirit Shuichi! I know you will get far, so just bare with me! So, first of all, let’s start out with the basics! Put your hand on the keys!

“Um…” Shuichi just placed his fingertips on the keys like he is typing on a keyboard. “Like this?”

“Ah, you are doing it wrong… Hmm… Here I'll show you how to do it!”

Without warning, Kaede grabbed Shuichi’s fingers to put his fingers on the keys in the proper formation.

_ A girl… is… touching me… so warm… soft… comforting... _

Shuichi was already panicking. This was going to be a long day for the cap-wearing bluenette.

…

…

“Whew! Well, I think we should call it a day here Shuichi! You learned a lot in the last couple of hours! I am so proud of you!”

That day, Kaede taught Shuichi the basics of playing the piano. He memorized where all the notes were and what each symbol represents. It was good progress for his first day ever touching a piano. Shuichi, still slightly embarrassed, took his hand and scratched the back of his head, pulling down his cap slightly.

“Th-thank you Kaede. I couldn’t have done it w-without you…”

Now it was her turn to be embarrassed. She slightly blushed and looked away, playing with her blonde hair by curling it around her finger. This was one of the only times Kaede was thankful that his cap was blocking his vision.

“N-no problem Shuichi!” The duo both looked at the clock and saw it was already 1 pm. “Wow, time sure flew by!”

“Y-yea. Now I see h-how you get lost in t-time while playing the piano…”

“You see it now Shuichi? That is what it feels like to play the piano! It is so addicting! I wish I could just play piano all day!”

Something, however, had an objection to that thought. Immediately, their stomachs started rumbling, needing them to head over to eat something. After noticing each other's actions, they both shared a small giggle and decided on where to eat lunch. Since they were together, they decided to go to the cafe for something small while Kaede also ate her snack from her backpack due to having a light breakfast. Luckily for those two, no one from Kokichi’s squad was here, as the lunch rush was mostly over by this point. They both got their food and sat at their regular table. For a while, they talked about this at that. They talked about their personal lives, how they got their talents and even cracked a few jokes here and there. Shuichi wouldn’t open up quickly, but, with Kaede’s and Kaito’s guidance, he was getting better at conversing with other students. Kaede couldn’t be prouder of him. Thankfully, lunch was uneventful and they quickly headed over to the second stop of their destination: Shuichi’s lab. Again, this lab was located directly in front of Kaede’s lab. It made sense; the Ultimate Detective does not need a large amount of space, so putting it at the end of the hall is genius. They stood in the doorway for what felt like a minute too long.

“Are you sure you want to go i-inside Kaede?”   


“Duh? Of course I'm sure! I want to see what you do for a living Shuichi!”

Kaede didn’t know if that came out too pushy or not. She hoped it didn’t.

“Okay… I-if you want…”

Slowly, Shuichi opened the door to the room and held it open for his guest to enter.

_ He is such a gentleman… He- _

Her thought process was cut off when she entered the room. Kaede expected many things, but not this. His lab looked a lot like an office. A desk in the corner with a lot of cases on the shelf behind it. In the middle of the room, there was a couch facing towards a T.V. which only had news channels available, according to Shuichi. Under the T.V., there was a fireplace, presumably for decoration. In the corner of the room, there were other detective necessities, like forensics machines to help find someone's DNA, a fingerprint detection kit, and other objects Kaede couldn’t recognize. The room had a… homey feel to it. Kaede had no idea why, but…

“I like it!”

“Really?”

“Yea, this looks like the perfect place for detectives! You have everything you need in arms reach. Additionally, it looks like you can make s’mores in the fireplace over there!”

Kaede and Shuichi both giggled until Shuichi’s detective instincts kicked in. He looked over at the fireplace and noticed all wood was gone, and in place, there was a note.

“Hey Shuichi, what’s that?”

“I don't know, someone took the firewood and left a note here… let me read it…”

_ Hi loser! It looks like you left your lab unlocked, or not, I will never tell! Either way, this place looks like shit. Well, it's not as bad as you, but it still sucks ass. Anyways, I needed some wood in order to do something. Do what? None of your business! Either way, you're not getting that back! Good luck finding more! Honestly, you're lucky I even left a note here. Thank Gonta for that. Anyways, I have to go lead my organization now. Bye bitch! Tell Kaede I said she is an ugly bitch for me as well! - Kokichi, Tenko, Himiko, Kiyo, and Rantaro. _

Shuichi sighed before crumpling up the paper and throwing it away. Unfortunately, Kaede was over his shoulder and reading everything to herself.

“Shuichi, do you ever wonder why they are so mean to us? Like, what the hell did we do?”

“I don’t know, maybe they just want s-some targets and thought we were the easiest ones? Maybe we just ticked them o-over with our personalities? With K-Kokichi there, it is impossible to figure out the real reason…"

Kaede hummed in agreeance.

_ It is going to be hard to get a reason out of them. But should we really be focused on that? I mean, would the answer even be something I like? _

Once her thought process was over, she heard a familiar male voice reach out to her.

“So, Kaede, as you can see, there isn’t much to do in my lab, other than detective stuff...”

“Hmm… I can see”

Suddenly, a light bulb went off in Kaede’s head.

“OH! I got an idea! In exchange for me teaching you how to play the piano, you teach me how to be a detective! It will be perfect!”

Shuichi audibly gulped and slightly backed away.

“A-are you sure Kaede? Detective work is almost never sunshine and r-rainbows?”

“I mean, I won’t be solving murder cases, but it seems fun to solve a missing pet case once in a while with you!”

She gave him a gentle smile, reassuring him that this is what she wants. With a sigh, Shuichi accepted her proposal.

“Okay, I’ll take you on my next missing pet case.”

Kaede beamed. She was ecstatic! She was going to learn more about her best friend and he was going to learn more about her. Without thinking, Kaede went to grab both of Shuichi’s hands.

“Eeee! Thank you so much Shuichi! You truly are the bestest friend ever!”

Shuichi heavily blushed at this comment and looked away, unable to move his cap downwards due to his hands being restricted. Kaede, upon noticing what she said, immediately started to blush as well.

“Ah… I d-didn’t mean it like that… uh…” Shuichi then cut her off.

“I-it’s fine K-Kaede. You're my b-best friend too…” Shuichi almost whispered that part, but with Kaede’s ears, Shuichi knew she heard it. Immediately, Kaede’s attitude did a complete 180, going from being bashful about the previous statement to being confident once more.

“Hehe, thank you Shuichi!”

They both stayed in that position a little while longer until it started to feel uncomfortable. After realizing how thick the tension was, Kaede slowly let go of Shuichi’s hand and desperately tried to think of another way to begin a conversation.

“So… what do you want to do now Shuichi?”

Shuichi thought for a moment, until his face instantly lit up, showing came up with an idea as well. Kaede loved it when Shuichi looked determined like that and so confident in his deductions.

_ Hopefully, I’ll make it so he is always confident in himself! _

She made that quick mental note before looking back at Shuichi!

“Kaede, I got an idea! You know how we do homework together every day, right? Well, maybe we can move the location here! That way, it is more comfortable for both of us, it is roomier, and has more resources for us along with an actual desk!”

Kaede thought about it for a second. No more; no less. That’s how long it took for her to see how brilliant of a plan this was.

“Shuichi, that's perfect! I was honestly getting tired of doing homework on the bed or floor! Doing it here would be way better!”

“Um… Y-yes… We can s-start now since we have homework d-due on Monday…”

“God, who gives homework due on Monday? It’s our time off, not time to be doing more work!”

They both giggled before Kaede gave her real answer.

“But, yeah, I’d lov- I mean like to do that.”

Shuichi’s eyes were locked on Kaede for a little longer than she wanted, but he ultimately gave up and decided to set up the desk for both of them. Shuichi was on one side while Kaede was on the other, peacefully doing homework. In the background, some of Kaede’s favorite melodies blasted from her phone in order to keep them both focused and slightly entertained. It was very boring, but did they manage to squeeze in a few jokes here and there to make it more entertaining. In fact, just being next to each other is making the work manageable, and sometimes fun. Unfortunately, they finished late, as it was around 6 PM when they were done.

“Wow, it got late K-Kaede. Maybe we could call it a day here a-and see each other again tomorrow?”

“Oh, yea, your right.” Kaede said, a little saddened, but understood they were with each other all day. “I didn’t even notice how late it was. Time flies when you are having fun!” Kaede then giggled. “Anyways, I am going back to my lab to practice more songs!” Kaede shoved everything she brought with her in her backpack and put the bag on her shoulders. “Thank you for everything Shuichi! That was really fun!”

“Y-yea, thank you f-for being here with me… It was f-fun having you around…”

Slowly, Kaede left the room waving at the detective. 

_ I’m so happy I got to spend time with Shuichi! He is truly my first and only best friend! I really hope I’m good enough for him… _

As Kaede kept walking, she saw Gonta and Kokichi in the distance. They noticed her, and Kokichi quietly whispered something into Gonta’s ear. Immediately, he became enraged. Kokichi then pointed to Kaede.

“Yea, it’s all true. And look, there she is Gonta! The bug killer!”

“Wait, what?”

Gonta bolted down the hallway until he was about a foot away from her. “Kaede, is this true? Did Kaede kill bugs?” Gonta stared at her down, a look of fury on his face.

“N-no… I didn’t…”

“But Kokichi and friends said you did! Kokichi and friends never lie to Gonta!” He stepped closer to her. Kaede was genuinely scared. She had no idea what would happen.

“Gonta… It’s Kokichi! He lies all the time!” 

“KOKICHI DON’T LIE! KOKICHI IS GONTA’S BEST FRIEND!” Gonta screamed, loud enough for the whole campus to be heard. More importantly, a blue-haired student whose door was not completely shut heard it. At this moment, he ran out to see what the ruckus was about.

“Gonta? What’s wrong?”

“KAEDE KILLED GONTA’S BUG!” Shuichi swore that his eyes turned red and steam was exiting his head.

_ Woah, Gonta looks like he is about to kill Kaede! I have to help her! _

“Gonta, when did Kaede kill the bug?”   


“Gonta, not know. Kokichi, when Kaede kill bugs!” Gonta screamed from across the hall, quickly turning around to stare down the trickster.

“It was 5 minutes ago! I saw her squish about 100 bugs under her foot near the front of the school and then she walked away. What a monster! It just wants to make me cry. WAHHHHHH! YOUR SO MEAN!”

Gonta immediately turned around to the pair, ready to slaughter them both. All the color on Kaede’s face vanished but Shuichi still needed to prove her innocence!

“Gonta wait! It’s impossible for Kaede to do that. The walk from here to the front of the school is at least 10 minutes. Not only that, but Kaede was with me the whole time! Remember, Kaede just came out of my lab! If she was there 5 minutes ago, you would have seen her come into my lab too, right?”

Gonta thought about it for a little longer than he should have. Granted, he was not the smartest in the bunch, but he still saw the logic in Shuichi’s statement... eventually.

“Ohhh! That makes sense. Kokichi, why did you lie?” Gonta turned back to Kokichi, now having a much calmer expression on his face. Kokichi, however, just put his hands behind his head and whistled. 

“Oh! Did I say that? Oops! I think I saw it wrong. Sorrrryyyyy Gonta!” Kokichi said this in a sarcastic tone, but a person like Gonta took it seriously. He immediately formed a smile on his face.

“Okay. That’s good! Now let's go talk to friends! Come on Kokichi!” Gonta proceeded to walk away and get into the elevators to go back to the dorms, leaving only Kokichi there with a few last words.

“You fuckers. I’ll make sure you regret pissing me off!” Before running off, Kokichi threw something at them. Fortunately, it missed. The duo then saw that Kokichi threw some Panta at them. When they turned around again to face the troublemaker, he disappeared, nowhere to be seen.

“Well… t-that was something. R-right Kaede?”

Kaede didn’t respond. She just looked in front of her with a straight expression.

“K-Kaede?”

Immediately, she turned around and grabbed both the detective's hands. Shuichi made a noise of surprise as he looked up at the pianist's face. It was beaming with an amount of joy she only expressed while they played piano.

“Shuichi! Thank you so much! I thought I was gonna die back there! See? I told you your detective skills are amazing! You just managed to break through Kokichi’s lie and prove my innocence! You truly are the Ultimate Detective! Thank you, thank you, thank you so much!” Kaede jumped up and down while finishing her thoughts, making the detective blush in response. Unfortunately for him, his hands were occupied, so they couldn't pull the hat on his head.

“I-it’s not a problem Kaede, it w-wasn’t too c-challenging…b-but I’m only an apprentice…” Shuichi started to hang his head low and Kaede stopped jumping. Instantly, a serious expression was mounted on her face. She lightly squeezed Shuichi’s hand to get him to look at her. It worked, with the side effect of Shuichi blushing like a tomato.

“Shuichi… you're not an apprentice! You’re the Ultimate Detective!”   


“B-but-”

“No buts! I saw how well you proved my innocence and found the truth like many times before! You are a very bright Shuichi and I know you're the Ultimate Detective! Don’t put yourself down! It will never help you! Just keep facing your life forward, and most importantly, believe in your work!”

After this conversation, Shuichi slowly looked down but said nothing. Kaede debated on whether to press onwards or not but thought she said everything that needed to be said. Eventually, Shuichi looked back up and gave his response.

“Y-Yeah… you’re right K-Kaede… but it’s so h-hard for me to do so…”

“Why Shuichi? What’s the problem?”

Shuichi sighed. He quickly looked around to make sure no one was watching them. Once the coast was clear, he went back to face the blonde. 

“I-I want to tell… y-you… but…”

“Shuichi, please tell me! I want to help you! We are best friends, aren't we?”

“Y-yea, your right… I’ll tell you only if you promise not t-to tell anyone e-else…”

“Okay Shuichi, I p-promise… so… Shuichi… why can’t you be more confident in yourself?”

Shuichi sighed, knowing this is going to be a long conversation.

“I-its for the same reason w-why I always wear my hat.”

“Huh?”

“Yea. Everything started last year. I was sitting at my uncle’s o-office, working on small missing pet cases, until one day, a murder case came into the office. Obviously, all the older detectives tried to figure out the culprit, but they were unable to. Right w-when they were going to let the case go cold, I decided to take a look at it. From there, I went and did some investigating myself, even going as far as to r-recheck the body. Eventually, I found a clue that everyone missed, and based on that, I was able to find the culprit. But when I found the culprit, he stared at me with all the hate in the world. It m-made me feel miserable. This is why I wear my hat. When the culprit made eye contact with me, it scared me, and it made me feel like everyone was going to judge me! It made m-me feel like I just screwed something up! According to everyone around me, I did. His motive for m-murder was that the culprit bullied his son immensely, to the point that he ran away and could not be found. After the trial, the culprit ended up with 25 years in prison for first-degree murder. For the first time in my life, I felt like my d-detective work led to the wrong outcome. It led to the outcome that just hurt everyone even more! I was so confident I was helping people before, but after that c-case, I didn’t know whether or not the truth would help or cause harm to people. And, I don’t want to hurt people, I just wanna help and I can’t be confident in my work if I don’t know if it will help or hurt everyone!”

Shuichi looked down at his feet, looking like he was seconds away from spilling tears. However, Shuichi was determined to finish his monologue.

“That’s why it is hard for me to make eye contact or be a little more confident in myself because I know you have been asking about that a lot. I’m sorry Kaede… It must be pathetic of someone an “Ultimate Detective” to not figure out the truth, huh?”

Even though Kaede had a poker face on, her thoughts told a different tale.

_ That is so depressing... Is that what it is like to live as a detective? Well, now that he told me everything, I can’t say I’m too surprised. Seeing people suffer and having to arrest someone for it, knowing you are the case for it? I would be even worse off if I was in his position! But, I know I need to help him! I know he will do the same thing for me! Hell, he already did with Kokichi and Gonta a few times! It is time for me to truly be a supportive best friend! _

“Shuichi…” Kaede announced slowly turning towards the detective. Shuichi looked at her. After she got his attention, Kaede slowly wrapped him around a comforting hug. Shuichi was initially shocked but eventually hugged back, holding off tears for a second time this week.

“It’s okay Shuichi, you're not pathetic. I think that I would have handled that situation even worse if I were you. You did great, but Shuichi, that person killed someone! Your job is not to decide what is right and what is wrong! It’s your job to find the truth! If that person goes to jail, then it’s the lawyer's fault for not defending his client enough, not yours! You just tell everyone the circumstances of the crime, nothing else! So Shuichi, knowing this, I think, no, I KNOW you can be more confident! Don’t take the responsibilities of the lawyer and judge, just be a detective and find the truth! Be confident in your work so that everyone can know the truth of the case! You're not the judge or the lawyer, so how he gets punished has absolutely nothing to do with you!”

“But, I found evidence to bring into the trial...”

“So? If the lawyer does a good enough job, he will find a way to make the client innocent or at least justify it. Same for the judge! Don’t put the whole system on your shoulders and hold people’s wants either over your own all the time! Your job is to find the truth and your spectacular at that! You should believe in yourself as I know that you can find the truth! The truth is all that matters! What everyone does with that truth is their responsibility alone, not yours!”

For a few minutes, they were awkwardly standing there in the hallway, still hugging each other. Kaede felt some rogue tears splash on her shoulder and back, but she didn’t care. She just wanted to be there for her best friend. After a few more minutes of silence, Shuichi answered back.

“Y-yea, y-your right Kaede. I’ll t-try, I don’t know i-if I can do it, b-but I will t-try my hardest…”

“Yea, I believe that you can change Shuichi! I know you can because you're an amazing person! I’ve seen it personally from all the time I spent with you!”

Shuichi blushed at this statement. This time, however, Kaede was close enough to him so that she could spot it.

_ Well, at least he is not crying. I would rather him be blushing awkwardly at my comments than crying on my shoulder. Plus, he looks way too cute when he is blushing. _

_ … _

_ … _

_ … _

_ Okay, I need to stop calling him cute… _

Eventually, after Shuichi stopped crying and he felt comfortable, the duo ended their heartfelt hug. They both noticed how half an hour had passed since the Gonta incident, so they both went ahead and waved each other goodbye. Kaede went into her lab while Shuichi went back into his, mostly going in to relax. Around the corner, however, the pair had an unexpected guest listening into the conversation. While walking away, he never went into the elevator. He heard Kaede and Shuichi keep talking, so he decided to eavesdrop on them without leaving. The information he found out was priceless.

“Oh, your so fucked Shuichi. You have no idea what is coming your way.”

Kokichi smirked, and then smiled, and eventually, went into a full-blown fit of laughter.

“YOU ARE SO SCREWED! I’M GONNA GET YOU BACK FOR WHAT YOU FUCKING DID TO ME TODAY!”

Kokichi eventually calmed down. His nonsensical laughter turned into a huge shit-eating grin as he went into his lab, trying to find good use of this newfound information.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone, this is a little bit of a bigger chapter than usual, but I hope you guys enjoy it. I got one question for everyone. Do you like the style where I develop Shuichi and Kaede’s friendship slowly like this before getting to the juicy parts in the middle of the fanfic? I want to do worldbuilding where everyone can truly tell how Shuichi and Kaede went from friends to lovers in a detailed, normal highschool way, as I see a lot of fanfics missing this link.
> 
> Also, do you guys like the length of these chapters, or should I make them shorter/more frequent or longer/less frequent?


	6. Jealousy

The past next week or so was quiet. That was because the main duo decided to avoid Kokichi and his “friends” the entire time. The only time they were even near each other was when everyone was in class. Kaede noticed Kokichi smirk quite often at the pair but didn’t know the reason behind it. For now, Kaede decided to ignore it, as she couldn’t do anything to stop it. However, the fun part came after classes, where Kaede and Shuichi would spend time with each other. They made it a tradition to first go to Shuichi’s lab and do homework, and after that, go to Kaede’s lab to play the piano together. Kaede loved how they found some common ground with each other and were opening up to each other's talents and secrets. Shuichi told Kaede some stories of some of the investigations he went through while Kaede told him about her numerous piano recitals while also teaching Shuichi how to play the piano. They both seemed very intrigued by each other’s talents and they both genuinely wanted to learn more about each other. On that remark, Shuichi began practicing piano when he was not overloaded on detective work, eventually improving at playing. Of course, he couldn’t learn a lot every day, due to school, homework, and his own work as a detective, but he made a valiant effort. Soon enough, he was able to play basic melodies. It couldn’t compare to Kaede’s but it was astronomically better than how he started. He can thank Kaede and her private tutoring.

After their piano rehearsal on that Friday night, Shuichi was taking his belongings and headed to leave the pianist’s lab. This is due to the fact that he needed to go with Kaito to the roof and train. Kaito kept his word and he now forces the poor detective to exercise with him. It got so bad that Kaito once crazily knocked on Kaede’s lab door in order to remind Shuichi about his commitment. Admittingly, this made Kaede jealous. She knew that working out was good for her health, and body, but she didn’t know the steps to take. Kaito’s workout routine seemed extreme and would damage her hands, which was proven by Shuichi coming into class complaining about them from time to time. If she confronted Kaito about her problem, then he would force her to commit to his workout routine, which couldn’t happen. She just sighed. Shuichi noticed this, and before leaving to change, he faced Kaede.

“Kaede? Are you alright?” Shuichi sincerely asked the blonde.

“Oh, me? Yea, I’m fine. Just a long day today with classes and the piano.” Kaede hit a random key on the piano to emphasize her point, which made a sharp, loud sound. Shuichi, however, was not yet convinced. Even though Shuichi wasn’t the best at reading people, he could take a hint.

“A-are you sure? You know you can talk to me, r-right?”

“Yup! I’m 100% positive!” Kaede claimed in her usual upbeat preppy voice. “You don’t have to worry about me too much Shuichi!”

Shuichi’s eyes began to close slowly as he began to stare at the pianist. Kaede tried not to give in and just looked back at the piano again, avoiding looking at the troubled detective. Shuichi, coming up with nothing and needing to go, let it slide.

“Okay Kaede, I trust you. I’m going to go now! I’ll See y-you later!”

“Bye Shuichi! Don’t let Kaito kill you again!”

Shuichi let out a small chuckle before leaving the pianist to her prized possession: her piano. Before playing it, she sighed once more.

_This is certainly getting a little awkward. Last week, Shuichi told me what his personal problems are revolving around his hat. I want to do something to help, but I don’t know what..._

Kaede exhaled before staring down the piano and then looking down at herself once more. 

_When can I let out my concerns about myself? I really, really want to tell him, but I don’t want to come out as selfish. Will Shuichi even think I’m selfish for doing that? I don’t think so, but I don’t want to risk it. I just want the time to be just right… or wait for him to figure it out._

She eventually snapped out of her thoughts and focused on the masterpiece before her. Without a second thought, she began playing the piano once more, completely cutting off her previous thoughts and engaging herself in her mystifying music.

…

…

…

In Shuichi’s dorm, there was a single lone detective getting ready for his outing with his other friend, Kaito. He wonders what kind of logic the astronaut will inform Shuichi about today. One time, he told Shuichi about the different types of constellations and another time. Another time, he got a bit braved and poured cold water on Shuichi’s head during the workout to “make sure you didn’t fall asleep on me”.

Right as Shuichi slipped on his workout shoes, he heard a loud knock at the door.

“Hey, sidekick! You ready!” The person outside was obviously the astronaut.

“Yea, I’m coming!”

After grabbing a bottle of water and his phone, Shuichi opened his dorm room at exactly 10 pm to meet Kaito.

“Hi Kaito.”

“Bro! It’s been a while! How is it going!?”

“Um, Kaito? We talked yesterday…”

“Yea, and that's way too long for the Lumarinary of the stars!” They both started to head up to the roof to prepare their regime. “Now tell me bro, did Kokichi and his gang do anything to you recently?”

“Honestly, no. It was extremely weird. I’m starting to think they have something major planned up their sleeve.”

“Nah, don’t worry about it sidekick. They probably saw they were being a bunch of assholes and decided to stop bullying you two. That’s the best possible outcome, right?”

“Yea, you can say that again.”

The pair finally reached the top of the building to already find someone there.

“Maki?” Shuichi asked, completely unaware of why the child-caregiver was there. “You're here early.”

“No, you two idiots are just late.” She coldly stared at the two Ultimates. “Next time, go quicker, or I will just finish all the exercises before you two even step foot into that door.”

“Noted.” Both males answered at the same time, mostly out of fear. From there on, their work out began once more. Like usual, Maki finished before Shuichi even started his push-ups while Kaito just stared at the moon. Just as Maki was wordlessly making her exit, Kaito stopped her.

“Wait, Maki-roll! I got a question for you!”

She froze, deadpanned, and turned 180 degrees to face the astronaut.

“What.” Her voice was almost strained, as she didn’t want to know what would come next.

“We haven't hung out with Shuichi and Kaede yet. So tomorrow, let’s do that!”

“What!?” Both of his sidekicks stated, the boy out of fear and the female out of anger.

“Why?” The caregiver responded.

“Why not? It is a good time to grow as friends and have fun! Come on Maki-roll, don’t let this chance go to waste!” Kaito slowly got up and walked towards Maki and put his hand around her shoulder. Maki, from the sudden gesture, blushed and hid between her ponytails. She then stared at Shuichi, daring him to say something. Luckily, Shuichi was not that stupid.

“Where are we even going to go?” Maki’s voice asked, clearly colder than ice. That, however, did not bother the astronaut one bit.

“Hmmm... The perfect place for four friends to hang out. OH! I know! The mall! We could all go and do our own things, while at the same time, be at least near each other! It’s perfect!” Kaito explained, trying to force his point across the two other students.

“I don’t want to.” She pushed Kaito off of her, and with a cherry-red face, exited the roof.

“Wait, Maki-roll!” Kaito stated before Maki left without another sound.

“Ugh… don’t worry Shuichi! I WILL get Maki-roll to come with us!” He pumped his fits up with conviction. “You just go and get your girlfriend!”

Shuichi's face suddenly mimicked Maki’s, as his too was becoming a darker shade of red.

“K-Kaito! W-we aren’t d-dating!”

“Sure you aren't. Anyways, just get Kaede to come! The meeting is tomorrow at 12 pm! We will have fun! Bye!”

Kaito dashed off, and from the direction, Shuichi deduced it was to go and bug Maki about the meeting.

_Poor Maki… I hope she will just say yes so she can get it over with. But… how will I ask Kaede? Will she even say yes? She is extremely busy with her piano so I doubt she will even have the time to go out with me… AND Kaito and Maki! Not just me!_

Embarrassed by his own thoughts, he went and checked the time. 10:30 pm. Shuichi knew that Kaede was most likely asleep, but decided to shoot her a text either way. Worse-case-scenario, it will be the first thing she will see when she wakes up, which was still plenty of time to respond to his inquiry.

_I know Kaede broke her alarm clock because it was annoying. So, that means that the only thing that could wake her up is her phone alarm. When she closes that, she will see my notification and respond to me!_

He decided to send her a simple, yet effective message to get his point across:

 **Shuichi:** Hey Kaede! Kaito just suggested that me, you, and Maki should go with him and hang out tomorrow at the mall! With Kaito, it should be a blast! But, if you have something to do, that is 100% alright. This is not that important anyway... so if you don’t want to go at all, just tell me. You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to! We are supposed to meet up by Kaito’s dorm by 12 pm on Saturday, so tell me if you wanna come with us!

After rereading the message an uncountable amount of times, he finally hit the send button. Half of him wanted the three small dots to appear, showing she is responding immediately while the other half just wants to throw his phone away and go to his dorm room to jump into bed. Ultimately, the latter portion of his body wins as he takes off to his own dorm to be whisked away by the night.

…

…

…

*Dun* *Dun* *Dun*

Kaede immediately woke up but was not frightened like before. One advantage of using a phone for an alarm is that a person can customize their alarm. Kaede’s alarm was customized to play Clair De Lune every morning. Kaede found it so beautiful that she waited for the entire 3 minutes for the song to end before closing the alarm off. Once she did so, she saw she had a message. She read it out loud and instantly smiled.

_Shuichi wants to hang out with me!? On top of that, I will also get to hang out with Maki and Kaito today? This is amazing!_

Without hesitating, Kaede typed out her response.

 **Kaede:** Thank you for inviting me Shuichi! I will definitely come with you guys! See you at 12!

Much to Kaede’s surprise, Shuichi saw the message and replied with a thumbs-up emoji. She needed to get ready, which prompted her to check her clock. 9:33 am.

_It is a weekend! I can sleep in as late as I want!_

This was the excuse Kaede came with as to why she was waking up so late. But in the end, she still had plenty of time to get ready and head out to meet everyone else. Within half an hour, Kaede was sitting down on her table eating cereal for breakfast, and after that, she scrounged her closet to find appropriate clothing for the event. Unfortunately, Kaede was still bound to her uniform. Hope’s Peak was very strict with their reputation, so wearing uniform while out in public was key to make sure Ultimates were being spotted if they were doing something illegal. While most people outside of Hope’s Peak don’t memorize the uniforms, they are easily identifiable if an Ultimate causes trouble. She sighed after remembering the rule and just took one of her uniforms off of her hanger. After quickly shower and throwing her clothes on, she noticed she still had an hour before she needed to meet up with everyone.

_Well, I should do my homework now, so that means I will have more time to hang out with Shuichi later on!_

Determined, she sat down and tried to accomplish her math homework. Unfortunately, without Shuichi tutoring her, she did not get very far. She loudly sighed, already missing the presence of her best friend. Luckily for her, in about 10 more minutes, her wishes to meet up with him will be granted. To make sure Kaede would not be late, she put her homework away early, slipped on her shoes, and exited her dorm. Immediately, she looked to the left and saw Shuichi at the other end of the hall. A smile was thoughtlessly glued on her face as the pianist skipped to the blue-haired boy, a little too quickly for his liking.

“Hey Shuichi!”

“H-hi, Kaede! You came.”

“Duh? Of course I came silly! I told you I was coming. I wouldn’t lie to you about that!” She expressed this statement in an even preppier voice than usual. It was obvious to Shuichi that she was very excited, and honestly, so was he. This would be the first time the two hung out outside of the restricting walls of the school. Even though they won’t be alone, this would be the perfect time to get to know each other better while also getting closer to Maki and Kaito.

“So, when do you think Kaito should get here?” They stared at their own phones, noting how it was already 12 at this point.

“Maybe 5 more minutes. Knowing Kaito, he will be late, like usual!”

“HEY! I’m not late for everything!” The duo jumped in shock at this new voice. Coming out of the elevator, they noticed two silhouettes. One was of the purple-haired boy and the other was of the twin-haired girl. One looked happy and energetic and the other looked like they would rather be in jail.

“Well… mostly everything…” Shuichi admitted.

“Shuichi! A sidekick should never bully a hero, right Maki-roll?”

“One: I’m not your sidekick. Two: Let’s go already. I gave you three hours. We are back here at 3. No expectations.” She seemed pissed off, but at the same time, the duo can sense that Maki was at least interested, as she was slightly blushing. Pulling Kaito by the wrist, she shouted at the detective and pianist to hurry up. Without even having the time to process her words, Kaede and Shuichi were already in the elevator, smashing the button to go down. Even though Maki tried to hide it and Shuichi was reluctant, they were all happy. 

Admittingly, it was a little tense at first, especially on the way to Kaito’s car. Not only was this the first time they hung out as a group, but Maki’s tone made everyone stay on high alert. However, once the gang reached Kaito’s car, everyone started to unwind. They started to talk about their school lives, personal lives, and even what they were going to do at the mall. Kaito told everyone about how he wanted to go to the moon this year and Maki let out a chuckle.

“Make sure to come back in one piece,” Maki said mockingly. However, after she realized the weight of her words, she instantly started blushing, with Kaito’s cheeks turning a little pink themselves. Kaede and Shuichi, both sitting in the back seat, noticed everything and let out a little smirk. Almost faster than light, Maki’s head completely turned around and she stared them down to the point that they thought that they would pass out from the intensity of it. Maki, satisfied with their slight fear, turned around and began paying attention to her surroundings. She didn’t need to, however, as a loud voice notified her of where she was.

“We are here!” Kaito boomed. He quickly parked the car and they all headed inside. Kaito immediately pulled Maki into the food court. Maki, not wanting to resist, just went ahead with whatever the astronaut was doing. However, she began acting like a portable watch reminding everyone how “there are only two and a half hours left before I’m leaving”.

“That’s okay Maki-roll! That’s plenty of time! Don’t be so grumpy all the time and let's have a blast!”

Maki deadpanned. She was not in the mood for any of his puns. She sighed as the boy pulled her in a random direction, seemingly to get lunch.

“Sidekick, Kaede! Let’s go!”

The abandoned duo looked at each other before shrugging. They ran a little to catch up with the other two members of the party, only to see them waiting in front of a pizza parlor. They wanted to buy one huge pizza but had a small disagreement on the toppings. This was easily resolved by getting only cheese for simplicity's sake. They took the pizza to one of the tables and began to eat. Kaito was so engrossed in taking the first slice that he accidentally went for the same one as Maki, which led to Kaito’s hand being on top of Maki’s. It took them a few seconds to realize what was happening before they both retracted their empty-handed, blushed, and looked away from each other. Kaede and Shuichi both looked at each other, forming a small smile on their faces from their misfortune. However, karma is a bitch, and just as the duo was getting their first slice, they didn’t notice that their hands were reaching for the same slice, as they were too focused on the other pairs reactions. Like before, it takes them a few seconds to process what is going on, but Shuichi swipes his hand away first as Kaede’s gears were not turning fast enough to recognize the situation quicker. They both started blushing profusely, but instead of facing away from each other, Shuichi pulled his hat down while Kaede started to apologize. The other party found this so amusing that Kaito slammed his hand down on the table, causing the pizza on his plate to go flying into his face. Instantly, all the embarrassment from before quickly vanished, as the other three began to laugh at full volume, gaining the looks of some other patrons. Kaito, who thought that this was hilarious as well, began to laugh with them, and, soon enough, they sounded like four normal teenage friends having fun with each other on a Saturday. 

Slowly, the laugher died down and they finished their grub. Checking the time, Kaito noticed how there were only 2 hours left until Maki was going to leave them. He gasped and immediately started to throw out ideas.

“Guys! Let’s go! We need to go now! I am going to the space store! Come on Maki-roll.” Without any hesitation, he grabbed Maki and looked at the other two.

“Are you guys coming!?” With his free hand, he pointed at the other two, and they stared at Kaito dumbfounded.

“Um… we don’t really want Kaito…” Kaede spoke up, clearly reading Shuichi’s facial expression dissatisfied with Kaito’s idea.

“Your loss! Come on Maki-roll!” Without having any say in the matter, Maki was being whisked away from Kaito to an unknown part of the mall. Even though she could easily overpower him, the small blush on her face stopped that. She almost seemed content with their answer.

“I will text you when we are done! Have fun you two! Don’t do anything naughty~”

The duo, again, blushed and looked away from each other as their party separated and Maki and Kaito were lost in the sea of people. Now they were just in the middle of the mall, with many passersbys awkwardly moving around them to get to their destination. Quickly, they noticed the problem and began walking with the crowd in a random direction.

“So…” Kaede spoke up after just walking around the mall for a good few minutes. “What do you want to do Shuichi?”

“Ah, u-um… anything is f-fine with me?”

“Oh, anything?” Kaede said, teasing the poor detective.

“Ah... you know what I m-mean…”

“Yup, I know! I was just teasing you! Either way, I wanted to go to a specific music store on the other side of the mall. Come on, the day isn’t getting any younger Shuichi!” Kaede hurriedly skipped along in the direction she hoped was the store.

“Kaede, wait for me!” Shuichi nearly yelled, catching up to the pianist and walking alongside her.

Unfortunately for them, Kaede was horrible at directions. They got lost at least once trying to make their way to the store. Kaede was starting to think that the store did not even exist until she spotted it in the distance. They both dashed over at high speeds, making sure to spare no time wasting away. Once inside, Kaede immediately dashed over to the section where they sold piano-related objects.

_Kaede is so excited. I had never seen her like this before..._

Shuichi had to run at top speeds in order to catch up to her. Once he reached where Kaede was, he saw her fawning over different music scores. She immediately spotted the detective, and she told him to “get over here!” Complying with her demand, he went over to her. She then started to explain the history of different piano composers and the famous pieces they performed. While they were talking to each other, Shuichi could not shake off the feeling that someone was watching them. He tried to catch them in the act, but all he would see is a shadow walking away. For now, he decided he was just being paranoid.

“OH! I definitely need to play you some of these when we get back! Luckily, I don’t need to purchase anything yet, since Hope’s Peak practically bought this entire store and shoved it into my lab!”

Looking around the store, Kaede saw a grand piano at the corner of the store. She didn’t think twice before running over to it, but once she got there, she noticed a sign on it begging people to not play it. Kaede would have torn off the sign and began to play her heart out if only she wasn’t going Hope’s Peak or if Shuichi wasn’t next to her. Admitting defeat, she decided she tortured the detective long enough, even though Shuichi kept telling her that he liked to hear her talk about her passion. After some time, the two exited the shop and started to walk around in a random direction. While doing so, they heard a voice clearly calling out to them.

“Excuse me?”

The main duo instantly turned around to find two other ladies walking towards them. Kaede had to admit that these two looked way more attractive than she did. They had a skinner, nicer body, and walked full of confidence in themselves. 

_They obviously take care of themselves better than I do..._

She immediately threw those thoughts away as she needed to address what these strangers wanted.

“Yes?”

“Hi, I have one question for you two.”

“U-um… y-yea?” Shuichi responded, clearly embarrassed. Once he noticed both of them looking at him with a smile, he quickly took his hat and pulled it down on his face. That, however, did not stop the slight blush from appearing on his face. Noticing this, the other two girls whispered something to each other but all Kaede could pick up was “cute”.

“Say, are you two dating?”

Instantly, panic set over their faces and Shuichi pulled his hat down over his face even further. Kaede took the initiative and told them the truth. 

“No! We aren’t! We are just best friends!” Kaede said with a little too much volume. 

_Shuichi and I are just best friends: nothing more, nothing less. I just know it. It is just so embarrassing to get accused of being in that situation._

Little did Kaede know that this answer was the wrong answer. They immediately smirked and went to the bluenette. They slightly tipped up his hat so they could see his eyes. He froze and got a little scared, not knowing what to do. His face immediately became as hot and red as a raging flame that only got worse when the other party spoke.

“Aw, your blush is sooooo cute~ Hey sis, looks like we have a real cutie here~” One of the girls seductively declared. Shuichi wasn’t sure what to do, as he has never been in a situation like this before. The only sounds the poor detective produced were very frightened and nervous squeals. 

“Yea, he sounds adorable too~ I wonder what kind of hotty awaits us under that hat of his~” By the minute, Shuichi was getting more and more flustered as the girls were getting closer to him.

“Say cutie~'' At this point, one of the girls put their hands on Shuichi’s chest. Shuichi slightly flinched at the contact and the mention of this new nickname. “How about you come with us~ We know perrrrrfect place to hang out~”

“Trust us, you will never get about the experience~” The other girl stated, placing her hands on his shoulders and back. The two girls continuously tried to flirt with the boy until he finally answered.

“Ah… c-can my f-friend come?” He squealed out. He felt vulnerable in this situation with the mysterious women getting closer and closer by the second.

“Ah, this cutie is so considerate~ Where is this friend of yours~” 

“U-ummmm” Shuichi stumbled on his own words at yet another new complement. It took him a minute to gather up his thoughts and speak again. “Oh, u-um. O-one of my friends is a-actual here, r-remember?”

Kaede found this as the perfect time to interject and help Shuichi with his problem.

“Hi... I’m S-Shuichi’s friend, it is so great to meet you guys”. Kaede sputtered out nervously, but it was nowhere near Shuichi’s level. From hearing the news, the ladies snapped back at Kaede. Instantly, they began looking her up and down, making Kaede extremely uncomfortable and even more nervous. Once they were finished, they looked at Shuichi.

“Shuichi, huh? That’s such a cute name~ I’m sorry sweetie, but there is only room for one more~ But your friend will be okay with you coming with us, right?~” The two girls immediately stared at Kaede again. With all the pressure put on her, Kaede mentally rebounded. She tried to speak, but she was too nervous to do so now. Instead, she raised her two hands slowly and gave them a thumbs up.

“See? Your friend is totalllly okay with it~ So, Shuichi, does a cutie like you want to spend some time with cuties like us?~”

At this point, Shuichi had no idea what to do. He just wanted it to stop. He looked at Kaede, looking for them to make eye contact for a short while. Again, she gave the detective a small thumbs up and a huge smile. 

_I know that smile. Kaede is faking it. She wants me to stay but doesn’t want me to feel bad about it. She is so considerate…_

After taking a couple of seconds to catch his breath, Shuichi finally responded to the two touchy ladies.

“Ah… N-no thank you… I p-promised my friends t-that I would be with them t-today… S-sorry.”

“But your friends are wayyyyyyyyy out of your league sweetie, in a good way, of course~ Even your friend here seems way out of your league~ You are much safer with people like us~”

“H-hey!” Kaede felt a pang of jealousy.

_I had never been told I was outside of anyone’s league..._

Getting back on track, Kaede asked another simple question: “W-Why am I out of his league? We are f-friends, so that s-shouldn’t matter!”

“Listen, kid, when was the last time you looked at yourself in the mirror?” One of the girls immediately snaps, as Kaede's mere existence was pissing her off. “If you have trouble finding yourself, that is because your body takes up the whole mirror! You obviously look way too ugly and fat to be in his league. An adorable hottie like him would never want to actually want to be around you, let alone date someone like you.” One of the girls started to come closer, while the other one still had her hands on Shuichi’s chest to secure him in place. “Hell, I’m willing to bet he is hanging out with you right now out of the goodness of his heart. Your trash, so know. your. fucking. place.” The girl touched Kaede’s stomach in anger and then noticed how deep her finger was in her fat. Seemingly disgusted, she immediately retracted her hand and wiped it on her own shirt.

“B-But...” At this point, Kaede was near tears, but the other girls kept berating her.

“I mean, have you ever SEEN your face? There is so much fat on it that it puts an elephant to shame. Your stomach is so big it looks like it can be used as a giant ball. Either way, you are ugly as all fuck, fat as fuck, as stupid as shit if you can’t take the fucking hint of Shuichi wanting to leave you.” The other girl started to turn red with anger but faced away from Shuichi so he would not see it. One of the girls was keeping Shuichi distracted from the fight by slowly rubbing her hands on his while being in the middle of himself and Kaede. Fortunately, he had enough self-realization to notice what was happening around him. But, at this point, Kaede was finally broken. She spent countless days getting tormented by Kokichi and his friends about her weight problem, only for other people she didn’t even know to come and try the same thing.

_If everyone says I’m fat, then I really do have a problem. FUCK, I’m so stupid. They are right. Shuichi is such a good friend, but I don’t deserve him. He should go talk to the other girls. They seem much more attractive than me and seem to give him way more attention than I do. I’m just a useless, fat, and mediocre pianist. Shuichi doesn’t deserve a piece of shit like me, he deserves good-looking friends who he won’t be embarrassed to be near._

At that, Kaede sprinted away from the scene and exited the mall, tears swelling in her pink eyes. Shuichi, however, was still frozen in fear at what happened.

“So, hot stuff, wanna come with us~ Ditch that fat-ass and spend time with us~ I will make sure it will be worth your time~”

Shuichi can only respond with one question: “W-why did you s-say that?” 

“Aw, your sooooo nice Shuichi, hehe~” They instantly soften up, hearing the worry coming from his voice. “We only did that to get her to leave you alone~ We know you were dying to leave, so we did you a favor~ Now, how about you come with us and we will make it even?~”

They started pulling on confused boys’ arms. He was considering just letting it happen, but then remembered Kaede and how she ran out crying.

_She ran out crying… She is probably so hurt right now I… I need to be there for her… I need to help her!_

“N-no! Y-you bullied my f-friend. I w-won’t leave h-her. S-sorry, but I-I'm leaving!”

He quickly snatched his hand back and politely bowed, even after what just occurred. With that, Shuichi sprinted towards the exit hoping to catch his friend. The two girls stared dumbfounded, not knowing what to do.

“Aw man... he was a nice one, even though we hurt his friend” One of them pouted.

“Looks like it, maybe they are close after all? Maybe that is his personality in general. Man, I wish we could have persuaded him just a little more. He seemed like the perfect boyfriend.”

“Eh who cares, let’s just look for another cutie… even though someone on his caliber will be hard to top…” They both sighed, looking defeated. They both thought they lost the perfect and best boyfriend until they heard someone speak.

“What if I can help you get with Shuichi?” A mysterious voice broke through all the commotion in the crowd.

They both turn around to see someone else approaching them...

…

…

…

Shuichi hurriedly sprinted towards the exit and stormed out of the mall.

_Kaede couldn’t have gotten that far? Where did she go?_

Shuichi ran around the entirety of the parking lot. Even though he wasn’t the fittest person in the world, Kaito’s training certainly helped him increase his stamina. Shuichi went to where Kaito parked his car. Nothing. We went and scanned through the entire perimeter. Nothing. He tried texting Kaede.

 **Shuichi:** Kaede, where are you? I’m looking for you! I saw you running from the mall into the parking lot but I can’t find you. Please come out!

Left on read. Shuichi was starting to go crazy at this point and was surprised that the other customers haven't called security on him already. Confused and tired, Shuichi stopped to take a breather on the side of one of the stores. That is when Shuichi heard a small sob come from somewhere around him. He frantically looked for the source and his eyes landed on the dumpster at the side of the building away from everyone else. Already knowing who would be there, he readied himself. He took a deep breath, practiced his initial greetings in his head, and walked up to the source. As per usual, his detective skills were right, and the person next to the trash was none other than Kaede Akamatsu.

Kaede immediately spotted the detective and picked herself up and attempted to sprint away from him at full speed. Shuichi, not wanting that to happen, grabbed her wrist and did not let her go. He held on tightly, but Kaede was determined to run away. She turned to face him and then she jerked her hand out of his grip.

“STOP FOLLOWING ME!” Kaede screamed, beginning to run away from the detective.

“Kaede wait! I just wanna talk! Please! Don’t leave me alone!” Shuichi screamed desperately at the pianist, who, after thinking about it for a second, started to slow down. She eventually stopped about 50 feet away from the detective slowly turning around to face him. At this point, Shuichi finally got a clear view of her. Her face was beet red, but not from blushing. It was from crying. Shuichi can see a clear stream of tears following from each of Kaede’s eyes. Her golden hair was a complete mess, disheveled around and dirty, most likely from being near the trash. Her clothes were completely wrinkled and her skirt now had a wet spot on it from all of the tears. Her legs and hands were violently shaking as if she was in the middle of an earthquake. She looked desperate to escape; desperate for everything to just as quickly as it began. Then, Kaede finally spoke.

“W-what do you w-want Shuichi. You don’t have to pretend to l-like me a-anymore. Those g-girls are clearly more a-attractive than me and they wanted you m-more than I d-do. W-why did you leave them?” Kaede asked in an almost annoyed tone, as more and more tears began to pool in her already water-filled eyes. Her voice was still clearly distraught and filled with worry. Her tone almost contradicted her words. “I am c-clearly ‘in my p-place’ now” Kaede claimed, pointing to the trash that was now next to Shuichi. 

_This is the first time I heard Kaede stutter this badly._

Suddenly, a flashback hit Shuichi like a truck. He remembered the first time Kaede helped him after Kokichi bullied him. He remembered how he thought he wanted to be alone and how he didn’t need help, but Kaede was still there to lean on. How she was there for him in his darkest time.

_Kaede was there for me when no one else was. I… I need to help her!_

Determined, Shuichi decided to take a small step forward, but his whole body still began to shake and his voice continued to waver.

“K-Kaede? W-what is the p-problem?” Shuichi started with the simple question, hoping it would get it to open up. It was too effective.

“What’s the p-problem!?” Kaede asked, clearly enraged. “You should go be with them! I’m a worthless dumbass who doesn’t deserve you as a friend! Those two girls, who could easily pass as models, clearly asked you to hang out with them. Go do it! Besides, I know that they are right. Your only friends with me because I was the only person left, right? You felt bad for me, so you decided to stick by my side, right? You pitied me, a sad excuse for an Ultimate, and decided that everyone needed at least one friend. Now that those models are offering to be your friends, you can ditch me and go with them. You just came here because you pity me. Well, you don’t need to pity me anymore Shuichi! Go with them! They want you! They need you! I’m just an over-sensitive bitch who can’t do anything right! I take too much effort to be anyone's friend and I can’t give you anything in return. I'm not beautiful or smart or pretty or smart like everyone else. Those two can give you what you want! Go to them and leave me behind already dmanit! STOP FUCKING UP YOUR LIFE BY INVOLVING ME IN IT! ALL I CAN DO IS RUIN IT!”

At this point, Shuichi was nearly in tears himself. He felt himself shake violently and he felt like he was about to pass out due to the stress. However, Shuichi knew he needed to persist. He can’t lose his best friend like this! “K-Kaede please… n-none of that is true and y-you aren't ruining my life. I think-”

“STOP LYING!” Kaede screamed. It was a miracle no one came to check on them yet for the amount of noise they were making. “NO ONE ELSE IN MY LIFE CARED ABOUT ME? THEY ONLY CARED ABOUT ME PLAYING THE PIANO FOR THEM. SO WHY… WHY WOULD YOU CARE?” She asked, almost saddened by her own thoughts. Shuichi decided to now calmly approach the crying blonde. He thanked his lucky stars he has experience in these types of situations. Usually, when he finds runaway children, he needs to convince them to stay where they are or come with him so they could go back to their families. He needs to get closer slowly, like in this situation.

“K-Kaede… I-I’m not lying… I p-promise…” Step by step, he was closing the gap between him and the pianist, trying to be as subtle about it as possible. However, when it is your friend on the opposite side, it gets increasingly harder to remain cool and stay neutral.

“YES... yes you are Shuichi! You don’t have to hide it from me! You're acting too nice right now! Go back and talk to those girls! They are way more attractive than I am. They are right, my face is chubby and I’m too fat for my own good. I’m incredibility dumb too! I can’t even do my own homework without you! There is absolutely nothing to like about me. They can give you much more than I ever can...” Kaede spoke, her voice calming down slightly. She wasn’t screaming at the top of her lungs anymore, but any passerby would still be able to hear everything as clear as day.

“K-Kaede… I w-want to b-be with y-you, I p-promise…” Slowly, Shuichi got closer. Kaede was not even aware of what was happening, mainly because Shuichi was approaching her at the speed of a snail not to alert her. At this point, he was a mere twenty feet away from his destination. 

“Why…” Kaede started to loudly sob. She got on her knees instantly and threw the palms of her own sweaty hands on her eyes. Still, that didn’t stop the onslaught of tears from sneaking their way past her hands and falling onto the floor. “W-Why do you w-want me? W-what do I h-have that t-they don’t?” Kaede asked, her voicing hiccupping from all of the stress and crying she endured. Luckily for the detective, that was an easy question.

“Your personality.” Without missing a beat, he responded to Kaede’s question in the most confident voice he could muster up. Granted, a few tears are falling from his eyelids at this point, but he is still taking the initiative.

“Those people just meet me. I have known you for 2 weeks now Kaede. I can trust you with anything because of your k-kind and strong personality. You're always so nice to p-people you just meet and try to protect them no matter what. That is something truly a remarkable trait that not many people h-have. It's a trait that is very admirable… and… I admire it too...” Shuichi wasn’t sure if she could hear the last part of his whisper now, but, unfortunately for him, her pianist's ears picked up every syllable.

“THEY HAVE THAT TOO! SO WHY DOES IF WE ALL HAVE THE SAME TRAIT? IF ANYTHING, IT MAKES IT WORSE, AS THEY ARE ALSO WAY SMARTER AND BETTER LOOKING THAN ME!” Kaede shouted, clearly not seeing where this is going. Now, they were 10 feet apart, so the shouting started to hurt Shuichi’s ears, but he didn’t care; he needed to finish this.

“No, they don’t, Kaede. They are kind and s-strong for themselves. They do that for personal gain. They are selfish. You are brave and sincere to everyone you meet because you care for t-them Kaede. That is the difference between y-you and them. That is what makes you special.” 

Kaede couldn’t take it anymore. She doubled over and went from kneeling to now sitting down on the asphalt. She pulled her knees towards her face, sobbing her heart out. Shuichi knew she wasn’t going to respond anymore, but he had gotten to the point where Shuichi was next to her. The bluenette, however, was not going to let the pianist suffer in silence. With shaky hands, the detective dropped to his knees, not caring about whether his uniform was going to get dirty or not at this point. He then pulled the girl into a much-needed hug. The instant she felt Shuichi’s soft and comforting hands around her back, she quickly changed her position. From sitting down, she instantly went to being on her knees again to be in a more comfortable position. After that, she shoved her face straight into Shuichi’s left shoulder, continuing to cry mercilessly. He didn’t care how wet his uniform ended up being, as long as he didn’t lose his best friend, he was fine with anything. He began to pat the pianist’s back, wanting to comfort her, but not make it awkward for either of them.

After that, all that came out of Kaede’s mouth were a series of long sobs along with numerous apologies aimed at the detective. He accepted every single one instantly and went back to patting her back and making her feel safe. It was a long and slow process, but in half an hour, Kaede reached the point where she could make conversation with the detective, even if she was stuttering.

Kaede looked up at him and he immediately looked at her. Her face was red from crying and was in a worse condition than when he had gotten there, but he didn’t care. With tear-stained eyes, Kaede asked, “D-Did, you mean all that S-Shuichi?”

“Of course I did Kaede. Every word. You're an amazing and strong friend so don’t let them or anyone else tell you otherwise.” With a still tear-stained face, Kaede beamed him a gigantic smile, which was the first time since the incident. She leaned forward, thought about something, and quickly shoved her own head into the detective's shoulder once more. “Thank you” was the only phrase that said, as she continued to cry. A couple of minutes later, the crying from Kaede’s side started to deteriorate and fade away. Soon enough, she pulled herself off of the detective and wiped her tears away. At this moment, Shuichi noticed that the side of Kaede’s vest was a little wet as well. He wondered why until he touched his own face, which was also running down with tears.

_Was I crying? Was I so absorbed in helping Kaede that I didn’t even notice I was crying on her a little bit?_

At this point, there was nothing he could do about it, so he wiped his tears away and looked at the pianist. She was already standing up, but she offered her hand to the detective, who was still on his knees.

“We should probably go and clean up in the bathroom before meeting Maki and Kaito, right?” It caught Shuichi off guard that Kaede was instigating the conversation that quickly after crying, but he instantly answered.

“Y-Yea, we should…”

Before heading to the bathroom, Shuichi reached and grabbed Kaede’s soft hand, the latter helping the former to his feet. After that, they needed to make sure the coast was clear before the duo both headed off to the nearest bathroom, luckily seeing neither of the girls on the journey. They went and cleaned their faces by splashing plenty of water on themselves. However, their clothes were unfixable at the moment. They just had to hope the other pair won’t question it. Walking out of the store, they saw that it was already 3:30. Kaede let out a quick gasp.

“Shuichi! We are half an hour late! Maki will have our heads!” Initially, Shuichi agreed to her deduction until he noticed something.

“Kaede, did she text y-you?”

“No, why!?” She responded in a panicked voice, still fearing the worst.

“Then I fear we have nothing to worry about.”

...

...

...

While walking back out to Kaito’s car, the duo tried to have a conversation. It was extremely awkward, but they both know that is how it is going to be like for the next couple of days. They didn’t mind it. Right as they reached the vehicle, the astronaut himself texted Shuichi.

 **Kaito:** Hey sidekick! Me and Maki just finished! Sorry for being so late! We are heading to the car right now, so no need to wait any longer!

 **Shuichi:** Yea, we are here already. We are waiting for you.

 **Kaito:** Alright bro, I’m coming, much sooner than you expect it.

Right when he read that text, he felt two arms touch his shoulders. He was immediately scared and turned around to find the purple-haired boy standing there, now laughing. Shuichi turned to the pianist and she had an assumed look on her face.

_She saw Kaito sneak up on me, didn’t she?_

“Let’s get in. I have to go.” Maki’s strict tone sliced through the happy, but at the same time, awkward atmosphere. As Maki was entering the car, he swore he saw Maki looking at the spot Kaede had been crying on, but she didn’t say anything. 

_I hope she didn’t notice..._

The ride was fairly quiet between both of the couples. They all chalked it up to them being tired, but they all knew there were different motives for the lack of noise, especially when Kaito was in the same car.

Eventually, they all made it back to the school without any further incident. Kaito parked his car and they all exited. Maki immediately went off in another direction, not even saying goodbye.

“Ah, Maki!” Kaito shouted, but it fell on deaf ears. “I’m gonna go be with her, okay sidekick?” Just as Shuichi opened his lips, the astronaut answered for him. “Cool. Anyways, thank you for coming. Bye Kaede, see you in school tomorrow. Oh, and bye to you too Shuichi. I will see you for training tonight!” Before Shuichi could contest Kaito’s training time, Kaito was already out of sight, following the twin-haired girl.

The environment became unpleasant again, but, fortunately for them, their friendship beat it out, and they were soon talking about random topics, albeit not as comfortably as before. They both stuttered a bit more and their responses were now limited to a few words. Slowly but surely, they made their way to the dorm rooms and they were eventually faced with the front door of the building.

“Shuichi, really, thank you for today. I… I don’t know what I would have done with you weren’t there for me. I owe you big time… haha….” Kaede awkwardly laughed at the end of her sentence, but Shuichi knew he needed to respond.

“No, no… r-really… you don’t have t-to do anything b-because I know you would do the s-same thing… no… you already did the same t-thing for me…” Kaede instantly beamed a smile, bigger than he had even seen, and pulled the detective into a tight embrace. The pianist’s hug was heartfelt, and Shuichi thought it was so warm and cozy to be in her embrace. Even though Kaede was sitting next to the trash, he could still smell her strawberry shampoo coming from her hair. In her tight embrace, he felt safe and protected. He just wished it would last forever. “Still, thank you Shuichi.” He immediately blushed and took a few seconds too long to respond. Slowly, he put his hands around her back and hugged her back, not daring to move her closer. “No problem Kaede… anytime.”

After their long embrace, they headed off to their respective dorm rooms. Upon looking at his front door, he saw that his room was open.

_Strange, I don’t remember this being open._

Upon opening the door to Shuichi’s room, he discovered there was a canister of water waiting for him on top of the door. Unfortunately, this discovery was made a little too late, as the water had already splashed onto the detective at this point. Luckily, Kaede was already in her room, so she didn’t see that. 

This is the first time Shuichi didn’t care for one of Kokichi’s pranks. Shuichi simply decided that he would clean up the mess later, and for now, take a shower. Before then, he started thinking. He thought about everything that happened today and how he comforted Kaede.

_I know I’m her best friend, but what is this feeling inside of me? It feels like something deeper than friendship. Do I want to be closer to her than that?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was the longest and by far the hardest chapter to write. However, I feel extremely proud of how it turned out! I hope you guys did too! The next chapter is likely fluff, so keep a lookout for that!


	7. Picnic

As Kaede ended her hug with Shuichi, she immediately dashed to her room. After sneaking one more peek at Shuichi, who was at this point facing away from the pianist, she closed the door. Out of sheer tiredness, or maybe something else, she put her back towards her door and slowly slid down until she was seated on the floor. On the other side of the door, she heard something hit the floor but ignored it for someone antics. As she stared at the lights plastered around her dorm room, she immediately began to remember the tiring day she had with Shuichi.

_Shuichi was so nice to me… He was there for me when it counted…_

Slowly, just from the memory, a huge smile made its way on her face. She started to think about what just occurred but did not feel any pain or hurt, just relief. Relief that Shuichi chose her over someone else.

_He wanted to hang out with me over those other girls, even though they were prettier than me… That means he really does care for me!_

She slightly blushed at that part, but it quickly faded away.

_In that case, I should show him how much I care for him too! I will be the greatest friend ever, just you wait Shuichi!_

Kaede happily changed and hopped into bed, thinking of how she can do to show Shuichi how much their friendship means to her. Right before she dozed off, she got an idea. That put a smile on her face until the next morning.

…

…

…

Kaede woke up to the sunlight from her window hitting her form. Her hair was all spread out across her pillow as she was sleeping soundly throughout the night. Slowly, she got out of bed, wondering why she did not wake up to the sound of her alarm. It slowly dawned on her that she forgot to set the alarm for that day. Despite her fear, she reached over and grabbed her phone to check the time.

_11:13!? That’s way too late, even for a weekend!_

Quickly, Kaede got dressed up and headed somewhere near and dear to her; the piano room. That day, she was determined to do something for the detective. Do something that she never did for anyone else. Taking a moment to grasp her surroundings, she quickly sat down by the piano and began thinking of a melody to play. A melody that has never been played before.

…

…

…

*BEEP* *BEEP* *BEEP*

The familiar sound of the alarm clock wakes up Shuichi bright in the morning, or so he thought. Unfortunately, he was in such a deep sleep, that it took him another 2 hours to hear what was going on around him and turn off the alarm. Last night, the detective fell asleep later than usual, thinking about Kaede and what he truly thinks of her. Eventually, when he couldn’t make up his mind, he let his body drift into a peaceful slumber. When the bluenette woke up and noticed the time, his heart froze for a second.

_1 pm? Wow, I overslept!_

He checked his phone and was relieved that it was not only a Sunday but no one had contacted him. After getting ready for the day, the detective decided to check up on his best friend via text.

 **Shuichi:** Hey Kaede!

It took the pianist around 10 minutes to respond, to Shuichi’s confusement. She always responded earlier than that, even if she was on the piano.

 **Kaede:** Hey Shuichi! What’s up!

 **Shuichi:** I was just wondering if you were alright, after, you know, yesterday.

Shuichi noticed the right dots appearing on and off his screen, like Kaede was battling whether to tell him something or not. It seemed like in the end, she picked the former option.

 **Kaede:** Yea, I am doing just fine thanks to you Shuichi! I owe you one!

As soon as Shuichi read that message, he began to heavily blush. Unbeknown to him, the sender of the message was also in a similar position.

 **Shuichi:** It’s no problem, really! That’s what friends do, right?

At that message, both Shuichi and Kaede’s hearts hurt for a second. Neither of them could tell why, so they just dismissed it for now.

 **Kaede:** Yup, it does! Say, are you free today? We can do more piano lessons, but only if you want to.

 **Shuichi:** Of course I want to! Playing the piano with you is so much fun.

The only thing Kaede wished at that moment was for Shuichi to see her face, as it had not only the biggest smile, but the biggest blush plastered on it.

 **Kaede:** Great, want to just come over right now?

 **Shuchi:** Definitely, I just need 15 minutes to get ready.

 **Kaede:** Perfect, see you soon!

 **Shuichi:** Bye!

Kaede closed her phone and looked back at her piano. She needed to get everything ready for her guest. She first put away the unfinished sheet music she had on in exchange for one that showed Clair De Lune.

_I can’t believe how much progress Shuichi is making on the piano! It’s admirable! I hope he can eventually learn to play the piano well enough so we can play duets..._

Again, Kaede’s heart skipped a beat as she thought of her best friend. She didn’t mind it though and continued to set everything up.

Meanwhile, Shuichi just finished dressing up, and after putting on his shoes, he made his way to the pianist’s research lab. Just before he was going to go up, he felt something, like a ball, hit his back, hard. He involuntary let out a little scream as he turned around to face his abusers: Kokichi, Rantaro, and Korekiyo. 

“Heya dumbass, how are you doing?” Rantaro asked the detective, clearly disregarding his emotional state. Shuichi, however, decided to ignore them, and just press the button to the elevator faster.

“Aww…. is Shumai just gonna ignore us?? Don’t be so mean! WAHHHHHHHHH!” Kokichi started with his crocodile tears once more, screaming as loud as he could.

“Hmmm… Two classmates having an intricate discussion with the lonesome detective. This will truly be interesting to study.” Korekiyo just stood there, staring Shuichi down. Not wanting to make eye contact with any of them, he continued to face the door and prayed the elevator would come down already. Unfortunately, it didn’t do so before Kokichi came right up to Shuichi’s face.

“Hey, Shuichi.”

Shuichi turned to face him, just so he could get it over with.

“What do you w-” Shuichi was cut off by Kokichi when he slightly lifted his cap up and stared right into the detective's eyes. The detective was mortified and desperately tried to look away from his purple eyes. Unfortunately, when he did so, Kokichi would just relocate his eyes to match Shuichi’s, leading to a never-ending cycle. Rantaro just stood in the background glaring Shuichi down like a hawk. While this did make Shuichi feel uncomfortable, Kokichi staring him down was much worse. On top of that, Korekiyo just stood there taking notes, looking down intensely at the situation. No one knew what he was writing down, but Shuichi was starting to get worried off of the information he could have gathered. By the save of grace, the elevator door finally opened behind the bluenette. As quickly as possible, he backpedaled into the elevator and tried to force close it. Luckily it worked, but he could not miss the smirking and evil faces of his classmates as he finally was reaching his destination.

_What is wrong with them? Why did Kokichi even try to pull my hat off of me? Doesn’t he just normally class me rude names?..._

_Does he know?_

All of these questions would remain unanswered, as, eventually, the elevator stopped and Shuichi had to get off and head over to Kaede’s lab. Once there, he hesitated for around 2 minutes wondering what he should do.

_Should I tell Kaede about what happened?... No, that would be selfish to put more problems on her, especially after what happened yesterday..._

With that decided, he just manned up and knocked quite loudly, not wanting to be late to the time they scheduled. Thankfully, Kaede heard him and started to giggle, unbeknownst to the detective.

“Come in!” is all she could say to the visitor at the other side of the door.

Shuichi slowly opened the door to see the pianist already at the piano, but curiously not playing it. He immediately panicked.

_Kaede always plays the piano. ALWAYS! Why isn’t she doing that now? Is it because of yesterday? Did it break her?_

His questions were soon answered as the blonde pat down the seat next to him, motioning for the detective to sit down. Quietly, he headed over to his assigned seat right next to Kaede and sat down, much to his embarrassment. 

“Alright Shuichi, let’s get started with your lessons! First, let's do a quick warmup! Play as much Clair de Lune for me as possible!” Kaede scooted a little to the left, leaving the detective shocked and speechless. Normally, he would just blush a bit and start playing, but for some reason, this time felt off.

_Kaede is jumping right into the action a day after pouring her problems out. Did she get over it that quickly? If she did, then why wasn’t she playing the piano? Was she waiting for me?..._

_Did I help her that much?_

Realizing Kaede was getting impatient, he quickly glanced at the sheet music and began to play for her. Granted, he only played around 20 seconds of choppy music, but Kaede still looked pleased that he remembered everything from last time.

“Good job Shuichi! You remember everything from last time! But, in order to make sure you don’t play sloppily....”

…

…

…

2 more hours went by and the duo was still at the piano making progress on their passion project. Shuichi managed to fix up his playing a little bit and add a mere 5 seconds of Clair de Lune to his name.

“Shuichi, I can really tell you are improving! Great job!” At this Shuichi, quickly blushed and pulled down his hat. Kaede however, still had more to ask.

“Say, Shuichi, we finished early. It’s only 3 pm. What do you wanna do now?”

“Hmm… l-let me think about it…” The two spent a couple of minutes thinking about it before Kaede had a bright idea.

“How about we go on a picnic, just me and you! The weather seems fantastic right now and I am really craving a sandwich or two!” She pumped her hands up, visually filled with determination. Even though Shuichi felt like his head was on fire, he knew that if he rejected, she would find a way to drag the boy along. However, deep inside, he knew he would never reject this opportunity.

“Ummm… of c-course Kaede… that sounds like a w-wonderful idea.” Shuichi stuttered this out, even though it was nowhere near as bad as when he first met the blonde girl. Looking back into Kaede’s eyes, they seemed to sparkle brighter than the sun itself. Shuichi blushed again.

“Perfect! I will get the food ready! You go get the blankets and utensils!” Without giving the detective a chance to respond, Kaede was already halfway down the hall sprinting to the elevator. Shuichi stood there awestruck, wondering how he got so lucky to have an amazing best friend.

_Relaxing Shuichi, it is just brunch at Hope’s Peak Park. No big deal, friends do this all the time… right?_

He snapped out of his trance when he realized he needed to get ready himself. Locking the door behind him, Shuichi left Kaede’s lab and headed over to the elevator, making way to his own dorm.

…

…

…

“What was that about dude?”

“Huh, what did you mean?” The boy with the checkered scarf replied. 

“We were supposed to call him names, not stare him down like some sort of fanboy.” The green-haired student replied.

“I am also interested in why you decided that routine would bother the detective the most” The anthropologist stated while butting in to give his opinion.

“Oh, do I have news for you two. Well-”

“WHAT’S UP COCKSUCKERS!” A certain inventor yelled out while slamming Kokichi’s door open, causing everyone to jump up.

“Mui, calm the fuck down.” Rantaro responded.

“EEEEEEE, s-sorry… I j-just wanted to tell y-you guys that I-brought g-guests” Mui immediately stammered out. As she finished her sentence, two women entered the dorm room.

“Welcome, I am glad you can make it.” The green-haired boy called.

“Yea yea. Alright, shut up. I called you here because I was holding on to some secret information about one of our very, very school friends that I am willing to now spill…”

…

…

...

In his dorm, Shuichi decided to dump all the contents of his backpack on the floor. Even though it created a pile of books on the floor, he needed the space to stuff in the materials they were going to need for the picnic. While getting ready, Shuichi couldn’t help but let his mind wander.

_It kind of feels like Kaede planned all of this out. She was the one who asked what we should do and she answered her own question. AH! Not that I mind at all… It is just… does she care about me like… that?_

After a few more internal battles, he reached a one-sentence summary of everything.

_No, Kaede just wants to be my best friend and friends do this all the time._

From there, Shuichi just needed to get a few more basic utensils and he was done. Meanwhile, the pianist was in her own dorm room, making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for the both of them to enjoy.

 _This is going to be so much fun! I can’t wait!_

As she prepared the food, she hummed to herself in content, happy that her idea sat well with the detective. After their meals were prepared, Kaede went over and stuffed one extra object in her backpack that will be used later. Once she double-checked she had everything, she stepped out the door, catching Shuichi immediately opening his door as well. They both had a good laugh at their luck.

“Hey Shuichi! Are you ready!”

“Y-yea, Kaede I am good to go!”

“Great, follow me then!”

Kaede skipped over to the doors leading out of the dorm complex. Shuichi quickly followed, staying right by her side. However, due to the fact that Kaede was still skipping, her hands were still flailing about. Eventually, one of her hands grazed by the detectives, and they both flushed, noticing how soft each other’s hands were.

_Did Kaede just touch me? Was that an accident? On purpose? Oh god, does she want me to do something?... NO! Shuichi, calm down! It’s only been about 2 weeks since you knew her! We are best friends, so it’s probably nothing. It was probably nothing. It was probably just an incident. It WAS an accident!_

As the two walked together, Shuichi failed to discover Kaede’s mental dilemma. 

_Oh my god, oh my god! I just touched his hand! GOD, he is going to hate me now! He is going to think I'm hitting on him or something! Even so, he probably won’t even accept me. Even though he rejected those models, I wonder what would have happened if I wasn’t 10 feet away from him…_

Before either of their thoughts spiraled out of control, they arrived at their location: Hope’s Peak Park. This park was located right behind the dorm rooms, so ultimates can come and relax after a stressful day or come to fulfill their talents. For example, Gonta would often go there looking for other bugs. It was a miracle that no one was there right now, but it was 5 pm on a Saturday, so they probably had other things to do. Because neither of them were hungry yet, they decided a quick stroll around the park was needed before they settled down and ate their now dinner. Since that park was at Hope’s Peak, there weren't any swings or sandboxes there. Instead, there was just a small man-made lake in the middle surrounded by big open fields and wonderful flowers, trees, and the likes. They both thought it looked beautiful, especially since the sun was setting. Eventually, the two Ultimates found a perfect spot on top of the hill and decided to set up. Shuichi took out plates and napkins he brought with him after setting up the blanket to sit on while Kaede placed all the food in a neat fashion. Together, they both sat down and enjoyed their sandwiches.

“Wow Kaede, these are really good!”

Kaede couldn’t help but go a little pink. “Hehe, thank you Shuichi! I’m glad you enjoy it! I make these all the time as a quick snack when I just want to fill myself up with something!”

Once she finishes speaking, she turns to face the boy. Coincidentally, the detective did the same thing, and now they were facing each other. Golden eyes stared into pink eyes as they were both frozen for a solid 30 seconds. After they got their bearings, they both looked away from each other, slightly blushing. They kept staring out towards the lake until they saw two familiar faces walk by. Those faces belong to Kaito and Maki.

Immediately, the main duo looked at each other and nodded, mentally agreeing to not talk to them to see where this goes. Unfortunately, they were too far away to be heard, but they could occasionally see Maki slightly blush and hide behind one of her twin hairs when talking to Kaito.

“Shuichi, they are so cute together, aren't they.”

“Yea, they s-sometimes are like that when I train with Kaito, however, they usually do it when I am not looking…”

As soon as the moment began, it ended, as the two made their way around the lake and went back into their dorms. Sighing, Kaede still wanted to do one more thing with Shuichi before retiring to her dorm. Surprising Shuichi, Kaede took out a speaker from her backpack.

“Um, Kaede? What are you doing with that?”

The pianist did not answer, as she simply got out her phone and began scrolling through it at remarkable speeds. Finally, she seemed to find what she was looking for, as pressed a button and put her phone down. Shuichi couldn’t say he was surprised when he heard Clair de Lune coming out of the speaker. As the sun began to set, the two became hyper-fixated on the beautiful music coming from the speakers. They both noticed how perfect the tempo, rhyme, and sound was. It enhanced and pulled them both into the magical world where the music notes flew just below their heads. It caught and kept both of their attention, as their eyes absently stared in front of them. The only thing that was on their mind was the music. Unfortunately, the music eventually started to die down and be replaced by the quiet crickets that were now starting to appear. It took the Ultimates another 5 minutes in order to recoup themselves out of shock. Mysteriously, though, Shuichi seemed to be the first one to speak.

“Wow Kaede… that was amazing! A composer really knows h-how to play their own song huh… right Kaede? Kaede!?”

Shuichi turned around to see Kaede facing away from him, slightly flushed.

“Actually, Shuichi, I was the one who played that piece. I just recorded myself doing it a few days ago while I was bored and decided this would be the perfect time to show you! I’m… I’m glad you liked it Shuichi…”

Shuichi immediately realized what this meant. It meant that he thought Kaede was as good as world-famous pianists. To him, when she played, it seemed like she outperformed all of them in a heartbeat. He got emotionally attached to everything she played.

_Maybe that’s why I felt so… strange while Clair De Lune was playing…_

Snapping out of this thought process, he decided to keep everything to himself and only show how impressive it was that she made him swoon over the music. Shuichi thought it was a pretty normal complement and couldn’t see why Kaede flushed slightly more. Unfortunately, they both realized perfect things always have to come to an end and started to clean up. While doing so, an unexpected visitor came by to do something drastic.

“Yoink!”

Within a second, the cap that fit perfectly on Shuichi’s head was pulled off and was now in the custody of the Supreme Leader.

“OHHHH, I got the hat, I got the hat!”

“HEY! Give Shuichi his hat back!” Kaede stormed over while trying to forcefully remove the hat from Kokichi.

“NOPE!” is the only response that was given as Kokichi tossed the hat behind him. There, another student was hiding. It was Rantaro.

“Hey, nice hat, loser. I wonder why you wear it? Is it because you just want to sneak a peek at the girls that are better than your “friend” here?”

“N-no…” Shuichi stammered out, trying to run away from his problems. After all, Kaede was right next to him. With her next to him, he could do almost anything. However, his hat eventually became the frisbee used to play monkey in the middle. Over time, more of Kokichi’s gang showed up, including Tenko, Himiko, and Angie. Himiko decided to sit this one out as Shuichi’s was being tossed from one person to another. He noticed two shadows staring at him, but decided to ignore them as he had more important things to do. Shuichi then stepped in and helped his friend get his hat back, but it was no use. There were too many people. Eventually, Kokichi nodded to everyone and they nodded back. Kaede and Shuichi were confused about why they did that until, at the same time, they all stared Shuichi down with a disappointed look on their faces. Shuichi instantly panicked, getting flashbacks to his first case, and looked down. That, however, didn’t stop them from burning a hole through Shuichi. Kaede noticed what was going on and decided to intervene. She stepped in the middle of Shuichi and Kokichi’s gang with her arms crossed over her chest and a legitimately angry look plastered on her normally calm face.

“HEY! What are you doing?” 

They all said and did nothing, continuing on with their plans.

“Stop staring at Shuichi! You can’t even see him anymore!”

“Yea, you're so fat you completely block him.” One of them stated.

That mocking remark started burning through Kaede. She was about to just sprint off until she felt Shuichi’s hand on her shoulder.

“C-Come on K-Kaede… we should go now…”

She realized then that she had someone. Someone who didn’t call her names and didn’t think she was fat or at least didn’t pretend to acknowledge it. Someone who didn’t look down at her. She smiled, and right as Kaede was going to turn around, Kokichi decided to open his mouth.

“Nah, we are actually gonna go.” The leader stated, shocking everyone. “Come on, these losers are boring me. Let’s go do something entertaining! These peasants already did enough crying!”

Eventually, they all walked away, leaving the duo there to process everything. Out of the corner of their eyes, they noticed that Kokichi still had Shuichi’s cap. He didn’t take it with him, but he just threw it into the nearest trash can, still full with the day’s trash. Shuichi went over and took the hat out of the trash. He would need to get it deep cleaned by Kirumi the following day, so he kept it in the reusable bag Kaede brought to put all of the food in. Looking back at the lake, they both noticed how the sun was mostly set up by and everything became peaceful again. They didn’t want to leave but noticed how late it was.

“Let’s stay here for 5 more minutes,” they both stated at the exact time. They looked at each other, confused, and then let out a hearty laugh. During this laugh, however, Kaede finally got a good look at her best friend without that constraining cap.

_Wow, he really does look better without the hat… It’s not blocking his blue hair or his ahoge anymore… and I can finally see his entire eyes… NOT LIKE I CARE OR ANYTHING!_

The birds were slowly flying in the background as the wind kept blowing everything away from the two. It seemed as if time suddenly stopped at the only things in existence were the lake and each other. Even though they were a foot apart from each other, they could still feel each other’s warmth radiating in the cold, dark night. A very small warmth that confirmed that they would be best friends, no matter what. Kaede then cocked her head to the left a little, noticing how close her hand was to Shuichi’s. She became flushed, but slowly and surely began to inch her hand closer to the detectives. Right as they were about to make contact, Kaede stopped.

_Kaede, we are friends. FRIENDS. Stop stepping out of line!_

She mentally berated herself for even trying to advance with Shuichi and just pulled her hand back. Unfortunately, this was spotted by Shuichi, who had a sad look on his face, since he was trying to do the same thing.

_Dang it… I should have done it quicker..._

Eventually, they both knew it was time to wrap up. They spent way too much time in the park and so they wordlessly cleaned got up, still enhanced by the atmosphere around them. Once everything was ready to go, the pianist spoke.

“So, are you ready to leave Shuichi?”

“Yea… I am….”

Shuichi thought for a bit, breathed in, and then spoke again.

“Ummmm… K-Kaede... I wanted to say thank you for i-inviting me here. It has been… fun hanging out with you and I greatly appreciate that opportunity…”

At this, Kaede had to turn away for a split second before looking back at the uncapped detective.

“Of course Shuichi! Anytime!”

And with that, they both made it back to their rooms. With a sad look on their faces, they both split up and went into their dorms, thinking about how the day went. They both came to the same conclusion:

_Today was amazing._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, sorry for the relatively short chapter (even though it is around 12 pages in Google Docs). I am thinking of starting to make 2 chapters every week, but around half the length (3-4k words instead of 6-7k). If that is the case, expect the next chapter to come out on Wednesday. If there is no chapter on Wednesday, there definitely will be one on Sunday! Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this fluffy chapter! See you next time!


	8. Detective Akamatsu

The week went by fairly quickly after that day and was completely normal for both Kaede and Shuichi. Well, as normal as one would expect out of two ultimates. They both went to classes, got bullied for who knows what, did homework together, and played the piano. Shuichi was getting better and Kaede was excited to see him grow. A couple of times, Shuichi’s hand brushed over Kaede’s as he was playing, not realizing how close they had gotten. Instantly, that would change the mood and they would then just both blush like crazy. The only new thing that happened this week was that Kaito and Maki came into Kaede’s lab unannounced, wanting to see Kaede play. She did, and all of her friends were extremely impressed, even though one of them has seen her play numerous times. Out of the corner of her eye, while Kaede was talking to Maki, she noticed Kaito nudging Shuichi, much to his embarrassment.

“Hey Maki, I wonder what they are talking about.”

She quickly turned around to view the two boys. Unfortunately for Kaede, she did not see the small smirk that was not plastered on her face, as it quickly disappeared and she faced her friend again.

“Probably about space or something.”

“Yea, you're probably right about that one. Kaito hasn’t gotten one day without mentioning the stars.” They both chuckled at that, with the boys luckily not noticing. Kaito, however, was definitely not talking about space. He was talking about a certain blond ultimate who had gotten close to the detective.

Small events like that made up for all of the bullying Kaede and Shuichi had to endure. Luckily, their other friends, Maki and Kaito, did not experience any bullying at all. The reason? No one knows... yet. However, Shuichi thought that it was because people were scared of Maki due to the dark aura surrounding her.

Either way, it has just been a long week for the main duo, even though it was only Thursday. Weirdly enough, Kaede wanted to be alone for that day. She claimed that she needed to focus today as she needed to figure out something extremely important. As she said that, Shuichi saw her go into her piano room, waving him goodbye. However, what Shuichi did miss was a very obvious pink tint in her cheeks as she closed the door and headed for the piano.

_ Stange. She normally doesn’t mind me going into her lab with her… _

He brushed it off and decided she just wanted some time to herself to play the piano. After all, they can’t be together 24/7. Moving on from that event, Shuichi decided to pass the time doing homework before heading up to the roof where Maki and Kaito were waiting for him.

“Hey sidekick! You finally arrived!”

“Kaito… I’m a minute early.”

“Yea, but we were here 5 minutes early, so that means you are late!”

“What? But-”

“Shuichi, do me a solid and don’t argue with that idiot.” Maki pouted, clearly not up for more of Kaito’s shenanigans. From her expression, it looks like she had to deal with this numerous times. Honestly, Shuichi felt a little sorry for her.

“Come on Maki-roll, don’t be like that.”

“I told you to stop calling me that. Do you wanna die?” Maki's eyes dilated as she looked like she was seriously about to injure him. Her hair started to flutter around and her eyes became a deeper shade of red. However, Kaito either didn’t seem to notice this or decided he didn’t care.

“Nope, I don’t Maki-roll!”   


Maki gave Kaito a death glare, which was ignored by the astronaut once again. Meanwhile, Shuichi looked like he was about to piss himself out of fear. He took a couple of steps back and put his hands up defensively, trying to end this interaction as soon as possible.

“Whatever, let’s just get this over with.” Maki relaxed and started to do her exercises. Shuichi took a deep breath and exhaled, sitting down next to her two friends to start doing pushups.

_ Sigh… How I wish Kaede was here… It would be so much fun… Not that it isn’t already, just it would be more so… _

Even though that was his wish, he understood why that could never happen. Kaede needs to keep her hands in tip-top shape in order to play the piano. Working out would just run the risk of injury, which would be catastrophic for her ongoing recitals.

_ But, aren't there things like jump ropes, situps, running, and squats something she can do? Those don’t use their fingers at all? Maybe she just needs the energy? _

Shuichi’s deductive skills only got him that far before he noticed a hand wave in front of his face. Shocked, he looked next to him to see Kaito and Maki’s worried expressions.

“Hey bro, what was that about?”

“What do you mean?”

“We called you 5 times but you just kept working out. Are you good?”

“Yeah, I'm fine. It’s just that when I’m thinking really hard I tend to just ignore everything else.”

“Okay, but what is there to think about?” Maki’s question made Shuichi freeze, which gave Maki everything she needed to know.

“It’s about Kaede, isn’t it?”

“Ah… Um… No i-it isn’t… It’s about, um, work.”

“What type of work?” Maki instantly countered.

“Detective work…”

“No shit sherlock, I want more specifics.”

Shuichi, again, was in the hot seat. He needed to find a way out quickly. “Um… it was a c-case about, um… ghosts!”

“GHOSTS!?” Kaito yelled, clearly scared. Like in the cartoons, Kaito jumped into Maki’s arms. After realizing what Kaito had done, Maki started to blush profusely and drop him on his behind.

“Idiot! There are no such things as ghosts!” Maki yelled, clearly a bit flustered. Unfortunately, Kaito did not hear that, he just ran away, screaming all the way down the stairs. Maki facepalmed and went to calm him down since it was technically nighttime now and everyone would be pissed if they woke up to a screaming Kaito. Shuichi knew that was a low blow, but he did not want to talk about Kaede like that… yet. He smiled at his small victory before heading down the stairs himself and entering his dorm room to finally get some sleep.

…

…

…

In the morning, an experience came for the young detective. Normally, his uncle would send Shuichi documents to figure out cases and Shuichi would just deduce who did what and send everything back. He would never actually visit the crime scene due to the fact that all the information was usually gathered already or it was too brutal for a teenager, no matter how smart. This time, he had a new type of case: he would have to go around to find a missing dog. However, Shuichi was not the first one to figure this out. Kaede has made it a habit to randomly go through his cases to see what he has to deal with. She told Shuichi this was mainly to see if something interesting was happening in the world around them, but in reality, she just wanted to get accustomed to Shuichi and his talent more. She was the first one to notice this case and immediately showed it to Shuichi.

“Shuichi! Look, look! You have a case for a missing pet!”

“Okay, and?”

Kaede pouted, clearly not liking that answer. “And, you promised you would take me to find a missing pet! This is the perfect time to complete your end of the bargain! I wanna go with you since I have some time to burn today! Plus… it could serve as a way to h-hang out more outside of school.” Kaede looked away from Shuichi, but he could not figure out why.

_ I thought Kaede was practicing for an important piano recital? How could she have time to burn? _

Ignoring this, Shuichi answered back in a rather shaky voice. “Um… I g-guess that makes sense… but are you sure you want to come to Kaede? It could get problematic..”

“Of course I do! As long as you're with me, I know I can do it!” She pumped her hands up in her usual motion, again causing Shuichi to blush.

“Okay… when do you want to start?”

“Now!” Kaede grabbed Shuichi's hand and sprinted out the room, dragging Shuichi to the front of Hope’s Peak Academy. After that, Kaede just stared at Shuichi. He sighed and then looked at his notes.

“You don’t know what to do, do you Kaede?”   


“I do!”

Shuichi, challenging her, and asked “Okay, then what is the first step?”

At this Kaede tumbled a little bit, desperately trying to come up with a solution. Eventually, she just gave up and shrugged, giving him a smile too big for any normal person who would have just admitted defeat.

“Okay, so we are looking for a brown german shepherd with the name tag ‘Sparky’ on it. It was last seen at the dog park at around 1 pm on Wednesday before the dog ran away from the owner.”

“So… we go to the park first.”

“Correct,” Shuichi replied. Kaede instantly perked up, staring intently at Shuichi.

“Ha! I told you I could do this! Detective Kaede Akamatsu is on the case! Let’s go Detective Shuichi!” Again, she pulled his hand in the direction of the park.

_ Wow, Kaede is really insistent on this. I wonder why she is pushing this issue so far. We could just go slower since it is not a life or death situation, but it seems like she is out to prove something… _

Shuichi didn’t have time to press the issue anymore. Before he knew it, they were already at the park's entrance. There, they saw many different types of dogs running in the field, some of them also being german shepherds. 

“Jeez, Shuichi, how are we going to find the right one? This is going to be like finding a needle in a haystack! Not even the most intense piano pieces will help find the dog in this situation!”

“Relax Kaede, it should be fine. First of all, we could eliminate most of the dogs right away since they are not german shepherds. Then, we could eliminate around another 3/4ths of the german shepherds since they do not have name tags on them. Finally, it needs to be brown, which none of them are right now. Because of that, we can say none of these dogs is the one we are looking for. Now, because the dog has been lost for a couple of days, it is safe to say that he is not going to be near the main entrance of the park.”

Kaede just stared in awe, amazed by his detective skills. For the second time today, she smiled brightly at the young boy.

_ Ah… With her smile, it would be useless for the sun to be out… WHAT AM I THINKING? FOCUS ON THE DOG SHUICHI! _

The now blushing detective now hurries up with his deductions. “Ah… A-anyways, that means we should walk around the park and l-look for the dog. He probably is in a seduced spot looking for food or chasing a s-squirrel since he was lost for a c-couple of days.”

“Great idea Shuichi!” She grabbed his wrist, making him blush heavily. 

“Come on, don’t keep Detective Akamatsu waiting!” She giggled and began to drag Shuichi around the park, this time with a little less force.

_ Ah… this reminds me of our first time walking together at the park. It was so peaceful… and relaxing… I can’t believe we are doing this again so soon… even if it is for a case… _

While Kaede dragged Shuichi around, Shuichi had to do his best to avoid blushing and actually look for the dog. If they couldn’t spot it, then they would have to walk around again… which a certain blue-haired boy wouldn’t mind. Eventually, the duo found… nothing.

“Geez, Shuichi. How long does this usually take!”

“Well… not this long usually… this one is on the more difficult side since this is a public park that is quite large. Here, help me scan the area quickly.” Shuichi disengaged from Kaede’s grasp to both of their displeasure, in order to look for more clues. After taking around 10 minutes to look around, Shuichi eventually found a nametag on the floor. It read ‘Sparky’.

“Kaede, I found something! Look, it’s Sparky’s nametag! And look, his footprints are facing North, meaning that is where he went! They still look fresh, so that means he was here recently! Come on Kaede, before it is too late!” Shuichi took off running, plastering a face of pure determination to the pianist. 

_ I’ve never seen Shuichi like this before… maybe when he is in his detective mojo, this is what he can accomplish… I like that… a lot... _

With a smile plastered on the assistant's face, they both followed the footprints to a secluded area where the footprints eventually led to a dead end.

“Ah man, right when we were getting close…”

“All hope is not lost yet Kaede, look!” Shuichi pointed at a patch of grass that was a little damaged.

“Huh? This is some grass, why is it so important?”

“Well, you see how it is damaged? Well, by the looks of it, it looks like it was only lightly trampled, meaning something was here recently. Considering this is where the footprints lead, there is a high probability that Sparky went through here. Additionally, to add onto that proof, since the grass does not look too damaged, it means that it could not have been a human, If it was, the grass would be slightly bent due to more force being exerted onto it.” Shuichi finished his deductions with stars in his eyes. Kaede definitely saw him and responded quickly to make sure they didn’t disappear too quickly on her.

“Wow, that’s impressive Shuichi! I knew you could do it! Now, let's find the dog and return it to its rightful owner!”

Kaede’s words, again, caused him to stop thinking so irrationally and notice how he was fanboying over his detective work. Instantly, he pulled down his cap to avoid the now obvious blush and continued down the path, only responding with a “T-thank you, Kaede… Let’s f-find this dog…”

Kaede, losing the sight of the detective's eyes, began to pout. “Shuichi… wait, I got a question.”

“Huh? What is it?”

“Shuichi… how long until you take off your hat… like… permanently...”

From that Shuichi got nervous. “Ah… u-um… I d-don’t know if I d-do that with e-everyone else around...”

“Then can you do it when you're with me?” Kaede pushed forward, thinking this was a perfect time, when in reality, it wasn’t.

“Um… K-Kaede, I-I don’t-”

“Shuichi… It’s fine if you don't want to. It’s your decision… but… I am just curious since we have been friends for a couple of weeks now…” Kaede now started to get nervous, thinking that she brought it up at the wrong time.

_ WHAT AM I DOING? SHUICHI IS UNCOMFORTABLE WITH THIS? I NEED TO ABORT! I ALREADY SAW IT ONCE, I NEED TO DROP THIS! _

Right when the words reached her tongue, Shuichi spoke up.

“F-Fine… I t-trust you K-Kaede, just n-not now, o-okay? I w-will be without m-my cap… for you… l-later...”

“OKAY!” Kaede screamed a little too loudly, mainly because she was nervous she broke Shuichi and was excited that she was going to get her wish. Shuichi jumped back a little bit before Kaede responded to herself. “Okay… let’s go now Shuichi!”

Eventually, after that awkward exchange, they began walking down the path for a good while, until they finally heard some barking. Even though this was a dog park, that was unusual since they were so far off from the main park. Immediately, they both sprinted towards the sound, only to find who they were looking for.

“Sparky!” Both detectives yelled at the same time. The dog simply looked at them with a confused expression as Kaede stepped forward.

“Awwww… you're so cute! Come here!” Kaede scratched the top of his ear, making his tail wagging crazily. This distracted him enough for Shuichi to put a leash on the dog and place his nametag on it. After confirming that they are not about to steal a random person's brown german shepherd, they held a mini-celebration.

“We did it Shuichi!”

“Yea… w-we did! Thank you so much for the help K-Kaede!”

“No worries! That was actually pretty fun! I got to get my hands a little wet while also seeing what you do for a living! I would definitely do this again if I had the chance. I definitely see why you like it now!”

Shuichi was overjoyed at her statement. Throughout the whole time, he was worried that she would not like his job, and by extension, him, because it was too boring, too hard, or too gruesome for the blonde pianist. Thankfully, he was proven wrong.

“Soooo…” Kaede started, snapping Shuichi out of his trance “What do we do now?”

“OH! Now, we call the owner of the dog! We meet w-with the client, they sign some paperwork saying we found the dog, and then we are done! My uncle does the rest!”

“Does that mean I can play for the dog for a little bit more!” It was now Kaede’s turn for her eyes to light up with stars, not that they needed to be any brighter.

_ Okay, this is the ONLY time I will admit it, but Kaede looks extremely adorable right now… _

“Yes, you can. Watch Sparky for a minute, I will call the owner.”

“Okay!”

After one conversation with the owner, with Kaede petting the dog in the background, they decided to meet the owner at the entrance of the dog park. Eventually, he did show up to collect his dog. He proudly signed all the paperwork, thanking the two.

“Say, are you guys dating? You guys look pretty close...” He said with a notable wiggling of his eyebrows.

Both of their faces turned beat-red as they stumbled for a response.

“No, we are not!” They both yelled out this statement a little louder than it should have been, even causing a few onlookers to see what was going on. The dog owner, first getting past the initial shock of the volume of their declaration, only smirked while stating “Sureeeee…” Eventually, he drove off, leaving the blushing detective duo on their own. After a couple of minutes of awkward tension, Kaede decided to speak up.

“So… how far until we are the new Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson? I think he was very close to their level of intelligence!”

Shuichi looked at her in shock, then confusion, and then happiness.

“The answer is elementary, my dear Kaede. We have already reached that level of knowledge.” Shuichi tried intimidating Sherlock Holmes, but they both knew he fell short. Kaede first snorted, which caused Shuichi to laugh as well. Shuichi’s laughter, Kaede concluded, caused the blonde to also laugh along with him until the air was filled with a beautiful melody composed of their laughs. Eventually, it died down, as they both smiled at each other.

“So, it’s only 6 pm, what do you want to do now Shuichi?”

“Oh, I don’t know. Usually, after this, I would go back to my dorm, eat dinner, and then relax for the rest of the day.”

Kaede thought for a second. “Well, in that case, do you mind if I tag along?”

Shuichi was caught off guard and became flustered immediately. “Ah, umm…. S-sure Kaede… but it won’t be too much f-fun…”

“Don’t worry! I know we will have fun! Just watch!” Kaede grabbed Shuichi’s hand and then led him back to Hope’s Peak. However, instead of grabbing his wrist, she held his palm in her own, even though their fingers were not intertwined. Shuichi blushed like never before and pulled his hat so far down that Kaede could only see black when she looked at his eyes. Kaede admitted that it was a little embarrassing, as evidenced by the pink blush on her cheeks, but she decided not to worry about it. 

Eventually, the duo reached the school and decided to crash at Shuichi’s dorm.

“So, what do you want to do?” Shuichi asked, clearly noting how there was nothing entertaining going on right now.

“OH! We could watch a movie! I know a documentary that is all centered around the birth and life of Mozart! It talked about how famous he was, why he is still famous, and how he became a popular composer! There is also one that talks about piano pieces in cartoons! It is a really interesting watch, Shuichi, since it exclaims why certain kids like certain levels of piano music. OH, OH! AND…”

Kaede stopped and looked to the right. There, she saw Shuichi looking at her, as if entranced by the whole conversation and was waiting for her to speak once more. Kaede got slightly embarrassed, even though Shuichi did nothing wrong.

Tilting his head, he asked, “Kaede, are you alright, you stopped talking.”

“Me? What, I’m fine! I just realized I was talking too much and you were getting bored of hearing a piano freak talking about the piano, haha… let’s just choose a movie from the recommendations page.”

Just as she was going to find a movie, Shuichi stopped her. “Kaede, first of all, you are not a piano freak. It is more like a piano prodigy. You are extremely talented at the piano because you work so hard, not because you're a freak! Second of all, I was completely interested in what you had to say! You did not speak for too long or too little, so don’t b-berate yourself like that. Finally, I would look to look at the documentary about piano pieces in cartoons. That seems fun!”

Kaede’s eyes widened as she realized the meaning behind Shuichi’s words. Quickly, she went up to hug him tightly, only muttering a “Thank you” to the detective. 

After that ordeal, they both sat down in front of the TV and decided to watch the movie Shuichi wanted to view. However, no matter how hard the pianist tried, she could stop thinking about the custom piece she was making. Then, she remembered something important.

“Shuichi, wait! Pause the movie for a minute!”

Shuichi, scared that something bad had happened, immediately complied and looked at Kaede with a worried expression.

“Kaede, what’s wrong? Did something bad happen?”

“NO! I… I just forgot to give you something…” See reached into her backpack and retrieved a ticket. At the top, he noticed the headline: “Bunkyo’s Recital Hall”. Immediately under the ticket is what caught him by surprise. “Ultimate Pianist, Kaede Akamatsu’s, Piano Musical!” The only other thing that Shuichi found on the ticket was a piano and the date, being around a month out at 6 pm. Being the detective he is, he decided to flip over the ticket, there were huge letters. More specifically, it read “A-10”. The final detail that Shuichi found, which was the second most surprising of them all, was the tiny text that read “VIP Ticket” at the bottom of the ticket.

“K-Kaede…”

“Shuichi! As you know, I am working on a c-couple songs for a piano recital… I was wondering if you could a-attend that recital… I want you to hear those songs…” Then, Kaede’s voice began to quicken” “AH! B-but ONLY if you want to! If you don’t want to, you don’t have to. It’s not that important, so if you have a case or anything, it’s fine… but… I would really appreciate it…”

At this point Kaede was looking down at her feet, hiding her faint blush.

“K-Kaede, of course, I would come. I wouldn’t m-miss this…” Shuichi wanted to say “for the world,” but he was too scared. However, for Kaede that seemed like that answer did the job. She immediately smiled and jumped on the detective, giving him a hug.

“Thank you so much, Shuichi! I know you won’t regret this!”

“I know…” He barely whispered, but Kaede heard. She blushed, and decided right there and then to unpause the movie. After thinking it through, she realized something. The piece that was missing in his performance hit her like a train. A train she would get hit over and over again if she kept getting useful information like this. 

As Kaede was walking down to the school after her movie, she suddenly had an idea.

“That would be a great way to end the song!” She smiled triumphantly, ready to get back to work.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m so sorry for the wait! I just had too much to do last week. Anyways, here is the next chapter. This arc is about to wrap up, and then another one will take place. What will it involve? That's a secret! You will find out! Anyways, I hope you enjoyed it!


End file.
